D. Brazil's Concepts of Extensions and Suspensions. Applied to 'About a Boy' by N. Hornby

Abstract or Introduction

In his theory of Grammar of Speech David Brazil introduces two concepts, which I am going to consider in this paper: Extensions and Suspensions. Let me give a short account of the meaning of the terms in question before I go on to apply them to the text.
Extensions according to Brazil’s theory are non-finite forms of the verb such as the Infinitive, the Gerund and the Participle (Present or Past) used by speakers in order to complete their communication and achieve the Target State, i.e. to communicate to the listener everything they (the speakers) have to say, after they have exhausted the possibilities provided by the simple chain rules. In short, extensions are found at the end of the sentence after simple chains. Here it is important to note, that the non-finite forms of the verb possess an ability, which distinguishes them from other syntactic elements, being verbs they are able to initiate a sub chain, i.e. to be modified by an adverb or a phrase, or to take an object.
Suspensions on the contrary occur at the beginning of the sentence in the seemingly “wrong” place according to the sequencing rules. They intrude into the syntactic chain suspending the achievement of the Target State and as a result often acquire some kind of `marked´ or `parenthetical´ status. Suspensions can be expressed not only by non-finite forms of the verb but also by adverbs, adverbial and prepositional phrases.