Stylistic Fronting in Official Documents
In the previous lesson, past participles jumped to the front of relative clauses in literary texts. A similar type of stylistic fronting happens with prepositions and adverbs, most often in administrative, legal, and civic records.
When a phrasal verb or a verb combined with a preposition appears in a formal relative clause, the preposition or adverb moves before the verb.
For example, "which is in question" would typically be sem ræðir um in everyday speech, but official documents prefer sem um ræðir.
Documents on Hand
A common phrase in civic records is liggja fyrir ("to be available" or "to be at hand"). In a formal relative clause, the adverb jumps to the front to become sem fyrir liggur (singular) or sem fyrir liggja (plural).
Enclosures and Attachments
The verb fylgja með means "to be enclosed" or "to be included". Following the same stylistic fronting rule, an attachment "that is enclosed" becomes sem með fylgir.
By recognizing this flipped word order, you will find it much easier to read contracts, navigate government portals, and understand official correspondence.