In the sentence " At midnight , he arrived at the station," what communicative purpose does fronting the adverbial phrase serve?

Question

In the sentence  " At midnight , he arrived at the station,"  what communicative purpose does fronting the adverbial phrase serve?

Accepted Answer

It provides a temporal anchor for the narrative immediately.

Answer

It converts the statement into a formal, interactional speech act.

Answer

It splits the clause into "given" and "new" relative structures.

Answer

It triggers mandatory subject-auxiliary inversion.

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