At C2 you arrange grammar to serve information flow — given before new, end-weight, theme-rheme structure. This is what makes academic writing feel natural.
Given before new
Old information at the start; new info at the end.
Theme/rheme
Theme = topic (what we're talking about) / Rheme = comment (what we say about it)
End-weight
Longer / heavier elements at the end of the sentence for balance.
End-focus
New / important info naturally falls at the end of the sentence.
Information flow — given before new
Awkward (new before given)
An expert in renewable energy from Berlin arrived. The conference begins tomorrow.
Natural (given before new)
The conference begins tomorrow. It will host an expert in renewable energy from Berlin.
"It" picks up "the conference" (given) before introducing the expert (new). This is how cohesion happens — the topic flows from sentence to sentence.
End-weight principle
Avoid heavy subjects
✗ That she had won the lottery was a shock.
Use it-extraposition
✓ It was a shock that she had won the lottery.
Avoid heavy front
✗ To understand the implications of these complex findings takes time.
Use it-extraposition
✓ It takes time to understand the implications of these complex findings.
Move longer object to end
✗ We gave the report we had been working on for months to the manager.
Better
✓ We gave the manager the report we had been working on for months.
End-focus — putting key info last
Active vs passive choice
Marie Curie won the Nobel Prize. → The Nobel Prize was won by Marie Curie.
Cleft for emphasis
It was Marie Curie who won the Nobel Prize.
Pseudo-cleft
What she wanted most was recognition.
Fronting / topicalization
This particular issue, we will examine next.
Choose your sentence structure based on which element should receive the most attention. The reader's eye naturally weights what's at the end.