Data were gained on the ability of aphasic patients to shape their utterances in terms of the topicalization and focusing of information. Specifically, Broca''s and Wernicke''s aphasic patients described 9 triplets of pictures, in each of which 1 element varied and the others remained constant. Dependent variables included probability of lexicalization vs. ellipsis, pronominalization, definite and indefinite article use, pragmatic word order variations in dative structure and use of connectors. Both aphasic groups showed pragmatic sensitivity in at least 2 of these areas, permitting the conclusion that the topic-focus function per se is not impaired in these aphasias. Broca''s were pragmatically sensitive in lexicalization and dative structure; Wernicke''s were pragmatically sensitive in lexicalization and article use. The contribution of specific grammatical and lexical impairments to the expression of a common pragmatic motive is discussed.