A study extended previous research on second language learners' use of interlanguage knowledge in making grammaticality judgments. The grammatical construction under consideration is the existential-presentational (E-P) sentence. This construction is described, and it is shown how, due to universal constraints of information structure, it is ubiquitous across languages and at the same time, always in conflict with the canonical clause structure of the language. Use of this structure by both native and non-native speakers writing in response to a situation requiring use of E-P sentences is then examined, and results of the non-native speakers are compared to the baseline established by native speakers. Observed differences are discussed, and possible explanations are proposed. Contains 31 references. (MSE)