ADDING EMPHASIS

the extra force that is

given to a word or part
of a word when it is
spoken

He likes „Game of
Thrones”.
•1. Fronting
• 2. Cleft
sentences
• 3.
Inversion
FRONTING
PLACING THE INFORMATION THAT WE WANT TO EMPHASIZE
AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SENTENCE
I liked the conference hall, but I thought the accommodation was
awful.
The conference hall I liked. The accommodation I thought was awful.
1. I have rarely seen such a confident
presentation.
Rarely have I seen such a confident presentation.

2. You can get fish as fresh as this only in Japan.

Only in Japan can you get fish as fresh as this.

3. A job description was included in the contract.

Included in the contract was a job description.
CLEFT SENTENCES
The finance director suggested freezing
recruitment. I want an evening off.
It was the finance director who What I want is an evening off.
suggested freezing recruitment.

I need a coffee.
What I need is a coffee.
We left our passports at home.
What happened was we left our passports at
home.
I spoke to the manager.
The person who I spoke to was the manager.
We had a meeting last Friday.
It was last Friday when we had the meeting.
 You’re working – Are you

INVERSION working?

IN FORMAL ENGLISH, ESPECIALLY IN WRITING, WE SOMETIMES CHANGE THE

NORMAL WORD ORDER TO MAKE THE SENTENCE MORE EMPHATIC OR DRAMATIC

It began to rain after the

The plot is great, but it’s also I have never heard such a
football match had started.
well written. ridiculous argument.
No sooner had the
Not only is the plot great, Never have I heard such a
football match started
but it’s also well written. ridiculous argument.
than it began to rain.

You forgot to shut the window When you leave home, you
The government knows little
and also lock the door. realize how expensive
about everyday problems.
everything is.
Not only did you forget to
Little does the
shut the window, but you Only when you leave
government know about
also forgot to lock the home do you realize how
everyday problems.
door. expensive everything is.
 Function: When do we use them?
There are two uses. Let’s explore together. Look at these two girls and answer the
questions.
I tidied my I did tidy my
room. room! Look!

Which girl is just

making a statement Why do you think she
about what she did might be emphasising
today? this?

Which girl seems to be

emphasising the fact she Maybe
Girl 1 tidied her room? someone
accused her of
not tidying her
room.

Girl 2
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 Function: When do we use them?
Use 1: For emphasis

You didn’t tidy

I did tidy it!
your room
Look!
again!

Notice the use of the auxiliary verb

did in this statement. More on this
later...

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 Function: When do we use them?
Let’s explore more. Look at these two boys and answer the questions.

It was flowers
It was Jayne who
that Jayne
bought the
bought (not
flowers.
chocolates!

With Boy 1,
which is more
important: What about with
a. Who bought Boy 2?
the gift
b. The gift

a. Who
bought b. the gift
it

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 Function: When do we use them?
Use 1: For emphasis

You didn’t tidy Notice the use of the

I did tidy it!
your room auxiliary verb did in this
Look!
again! statement.

Use 2: To focus attention on or emphasise a specific thing/person in the sentence

Notice how the focus is

It was Jayne who
on Jayne not the flowers
bought the
because that is the
flowers.
important part of the
sentence.

How do we use them?

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 Form: How do we use them?
1. Inversions
Let’s explore together first. Look at these two examples.

1. Sarah has not only bought a cat, but also a dog.

2. Not only has Sarah bought a cat, but also a dog.

Both sentences are in What happens to the

present perfect simple. word order of the
Which is the auxiliary auxiliary verb and the
verb? subject?

They
become
In example 2, where in
has What/who is the subject inverted
the sentence is the
of the sentences?
negative adverb/phrase?

At the
Sarah
beginning
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 Form: 1. inversions
We use inversions after certain negative adverbs or phrases like this:
Notice that with the simple
Notice the negative
tenses (present and past), we
words/phrases are all at
have to add the auxiliary verb
the beginning of the
before inverting. The main
sentence.
verb is then in the infinitive.

Negative adverbs Auxiliary Subject Main verb Complement

verb
Under no circumstances should you go out alone at night.

Not only does she speak Spanish, but also

French.
At no time did they mention the exam results.

No way is he - famous!

Only once has Thomas visited me.

No sooner had Sara arrived than I left.

Don’t forget to
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 Form: How do we use them?
2. Cleft sentences
Let’s explore together. Look at these two examples.

1. Bobby cleaned all the house.

2. It was Bobby who cleaned all the house.

We can move parts of a sentence

around to put more focus on a
specific thing/person and give it
emphasis. In example 2, we can
see how it’s important that Bobby
(not someone else) cleaned the
house.

What do we call this type of clause:

who cleaned the house? A relative
clause

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 Form: 2. cleft sentences with it
In these four sentences,
notice how the person or These follow the same rules
thing we want to emphasise as normal relative clauses.
always comes in the same They can be omitted.
place in the sentence.

It To be Emphasised Relative pronoun Relative clause

person/thing/place
It was Lewis who/that designed the website.

It is an iPhone 7 (which/that) you should buy.

It must be Veronica (who/that) you spoke to.

It is Berlin where they met.

The other 2?
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 Form: How do we use them?
3. Adding an auxiliary verb
In the present and past simple, we can emphasise a feeling or statement by adding
an auxiliary verb to the sentence. Let’s explore together. Look at the two examples.
1. Rosalind went to university.

2. Rosalind did go to university.

In sentence 2, what
In sentence 2, which word is the form is the main
added auxiliary verb? verb in now?

Did The
In this example, the auxiliary verb is
infinitiv
did because the sentence is in the
e form
past simple. What would the
auxiliary verb in the present simple
be? Do or
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does
 Form: 3. adding an auxiliary verb
We can add an auxiliary verb to an affirmative sentence in the simple tenses
(present and past) for emphasis. With other structures, we usually just use our
intonation or stress to do this.

Pronunciation is very
important here. The Notice that the main verb is
auxiliary should be stressed now in the infinitive form.
clearly.

Subject Added auxiliary Main Complement

verb verb
She does want to visit you!

Laura and Ros did pass the exam!

And finally...
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 Form: How do we use them?
4. Cleft sentences with what
Let’s explore together. Look at these examples.

1. I like fruit, cake, ice cream, and I really love

chocolate.
2. I like fruit, cake, ice cream. But what I really love is
chocolate!

What two words are added to

example 2?

What at the
beginning, and is in
the middle of the
sentence.

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 Form: 4. Cleft sentences with
what
What Subject clause To be Object clause

What I really love is chocolate.

What she said was she’d be late.

What Daniel wants is a new guitar.

Notice how these parts are

added in cleft sentences.

E.g. I really love chocolate. vs

What I really love is chocolate.

Time to practise...
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 Practice activities
Rewrite these sentences using the words in capitals.

1. Gabriel definitely shouldn’t leave school now. CIRCUMSTANCES

Under no circumstances should Gabriel leave school now.

2. You really must see the new Batman film. IT

It is the Batman film that you (really) must see.

3. You should thank Mary. WHO

It is Mary (who) you should thank.

4. As soon as Lucy passed the exam, she started the new course. NO SOONER

No sooner had Lucy passed the exam than she started the new course.

5. Angie and Tim adored their dog more than anything. WHAT
What Angie and Tim adored more than anything was their dog.

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