Emphasis

 

1. Emphasis is a way to strengthen a particular word or an expression in a sentence. In oral speech it is achieved by giving words extra stress.

E.g. Jane phoned me yesterday. (Not somebody else.)

Jane phoned me yesterday. (She didn’t come to see me.)

Jane phoned me yesterday. (She didn’t phone you.) etc.

Speakers often stress auxiliary verbs. This can make the whole sentence sound more emphatic.

E.g. It was a nice party!

I am telling the truth – you must believe me!

In emphatic sentences without auxiliary verbs we add ‘do’ to carry the stress.

E.g. She did like it.

Do sit down!

If he does decide to come, let me know.

2. Besides giving words extra stress, speakers often use certain words, such as ‘so, really, such’ to show emphasis.

E.g. Thank you so much. It was such a lovely party. I really enjoyed it.

Question words can be emphasized by adding ‘ever’ or ‘on earth’, ‘very … indeed’, especially in informal situations.

E.g. Why ever did he marry her?

He followed her wherever she went.

What on earth is she doing here?

He was driving very fast indeed.

3. To give some words more importance speakers often place them to an unusual position. This kind of emphasis is called ‘fronting’. It is possible to begin an affirmative clause with an object. This kind of fronting is common in informal speech, though it is also possible in more formal style.

E.g. Strange people they are!

People like that I just can’t stand.

This question we have already discussed at some length.

Fronted adjectives and adverbs are possible in structures with ‘as’ or ‘though’.

E.g. Young as I was, I realized what was happening.

Fast though she drove, she could not catch them.

Much as/though I respect your point of view, I can’t agree.

4. We can emphasize particular words in a sentence by using cleft (divided) sentences. They are useful in writing (because we cannot use intonation for emphasis in written language), but they are also common in speech.

a) The words to be emphasized are joined to a relative clause by ‘is/was’ and an expression like ‘the person who, the place where, the day when, the reason why, what (= the thing that).

E.g. On Tuesday Jane revealed this information to help the investigation.

The person who revealed this information was Jane.

What Jane revealed was this information.

The day when Jane revealed this information was Tuesday.

The reason why Jane revealed this was to help the investigation.

What Jane did was to reveal this information.

Note that a what -clause is normally considered singular.

b) Preparatory ‘it’ is often used in cleft sentences. In this case, the words to be emphasized are usually joined to the relative clause by ‘that’ (or sometimes by ‘who’). Compare:

E.g. My secretary sent the bill to Mr Harding yesterday.

It was my secretary who/that sent the bill.

It was the bill that my secretary sent to Mr Harding.

It was Mr Harding that my secretary sent the bill to yesterday.

It was yesterday that my secretary sent the bill to Mr Harding.

Negatives are also possible here.

E.g. It wasn’t I who sent the Bill to Mr Harding.

Note the forms of the verb ‘be’ in this structure.

E.g. It was the students who were late.

It is I who am responsible.

It is you who are in the wrong.

Time expressions can be emphasized with ‘It was not until …’ and ‘It was only when …’

E.g. It was not until I met you that I learned what friendship is.

It was only when I read her letter that I realized what was happening.

5. Negative adverbs and adverbial expressions are emphasized if they are put at the beginning of a sentence. They are usually followed by an ‘auxiliary verb + subject’. These sentences are mostly rather formal. Expressions and words used here: ‘under no circumstances, at no time, not until, no sooner … than, hardly … when, hardly ever, seldom, rarely, little, never’ and expressions with ‘only’ (only after, only then, only recently, not only … but, etc.)

E.g. Under no circumstances can you borrow money.

At no time was the President aware of danger.

Not until much later did she learn what had happened.

No sooner had I put the phone down than it rang again.

Hardly had I got my breath back when it was time to go again.

Little did he realize the danger.

Not only did we lose our money, but we were nearly killed.

6. Inversion is also used in negative sentences containing the structures ‘not … nor’. These sentences, too, are formal or literary.

E.g. I don’t know much about this affair, nor do I care.

The negative meaning in the first part of the sentence can be implied.

E.g. We have many enemies, nor can we be sure of our friends.