Grammar

C1
emphatic structures

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2019 1
 What is an emphatic structure?

There are many different types of emphatic structures:

1. Inversions with certain negative adverbs and phrases.
2. Cleft sentences starting with it and relative clauses.
3. Adding an auxiliary verb when we wouldn’t usually.
4. Cleft sentences introduced with What.

When and why do we

use them?

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 Function: When do we use them?
There are two uses. Let’s explore together. Look at these two girls and answer the questions.

I did tidy my
I tidied my room.
room! Look!

Which girl is just

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

Which girl seems to be

emphasising the fact she
Girl 1 tidied her room? Maybe 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! Look!
your room 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 Jayne who It was flowers that

bought the Jayne 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
b. the gift
bought 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! Look! auxiliary verb did in this
your room again!
statement.

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

Notice how the focus is on

It was Jayne who
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 word

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

They
become
In example 2, where in the
has What/who is the subject of inverted
sentence is the negative
the sentences?
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
tenses (present and past), we Notice the negative
have to add the auxiliary verb words/phrases are all at the
before inverting. The main verb beginning of the sentence.
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: 1. inversions
Auxiliary verbs Things to remember

All modal verbs are auxiliary verbs. E.g. should, can, A not only phrase is usually completed by but also.
could, must, will, would, etc. E.g. Not only did they eat all the cake, but also the
sandwiches!

In the simple tenses, the auxiliary verb will always be Under no circumstances is usually followed by the
do, does, or did. modal verb should. E.g. Under no circumstances
should you come here.

The auxiliary verbs are the ‘grammatical’ verbs, like It should always be no sooner...than. This phrase is
have/has in the present perfect, or to be in the usually in the past perfect.
passive voice or continuous structures. E.g. No sooner had they opened than the clients
E.g. I have been to France; Jonny was arrested; they arrived.
are dancing.

And the other 3

emphatic structures?
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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 thing we These follow the same rules as
want to emphasise always normal relative clauses. They
comes in the same place in can be omitted.
the sentence.

It To be Emphasised person/thing/place Relative pronoun Relative clause

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 added form is the main verb
auxiliary verb? in now?

Did The
In this example, the auxiliary verb is did infinitive
because the sentence is in the past form
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
Notice that the main verb is
important here. The auxiliary
now in the infinitive form.
should be stressed clearly.

Subject Added auxiliary verb Main Complement

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
In pairs, take a few minutes to rewrite this sentence using the words in brackets. Let’s do
one together first...
The headmaster only spoke to me once. SPEAK
Firstly, think about which
Which negative adverb or
of the 4 emphatic Only
phrase?
structures to use.
once

Inversion
Now try to remember the Try to think about what
form... the auxiliary verb might
be here... Did

Neg adverb + aux.

verb + subject +
main verb +
Why speak and not spoke?
complement

Only once did the headmaster speak to me. In the simple

tenses, we use the
infinitive here.
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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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