%0 Journal Article %T A Short Analysis of Information Structures of English Sentences %A Shufang Cheng %J Theory and Practice in Language Studies %D 2012 %I %R 10.4304/tpls.2.3.492-497 %X This paper analyses information structures of English sentences broadly by comprising structural and semantic properties of utterances relating to the discourse status of their content and the states of the discourse participants. It mentions the concept of the notions like presupposition, focus, given vs. new, and topic vs. comment and discusses the relationships between them. Then it introduces the categories of information status and the animacy hierarchy. Finally it states the significance of information structure of English sentences. %K information structure (IS) %K information status %K animacy hierarchy %U http://ojs.academypublisher.com/index.php/tpls/article/view/6827