Adding Emphasis in English

Use these forms to emphasize your statements when you are expressing your opinions, disagreeing, making strong suggestions, expressing annoyance, etc.


Use of the Passive

The passive voice is used when focusing on the person or thing affected by an action. Generally, more emphasis is given to the beginning of a sentence. By using a passive sentence, we emphasize by showing what happens to something rather than who or what does something.

Example:
Reports are expected by the end of the week.
In this example, attention is called to what is expected of students (reports).

Inversion

Invert the word order by placing a prepositional phrase or other expression (at no time, suddenly into, little, seldom, never, etc.) at the beginning of the sentence followed by inverted word order.

Examples:
At no time did I say you couldn't come.
Hardly had I arrived when he started complaining.
Little did I understand what was happening.
Seldom have I felt so alone.

Note that the auxiliary verb is placed before the subject which is followed by the main verb.

Expressing Annoyance

Use the continuous form modified by 'always', 'forever', etc. to express annoyance at another person's action. This form is considered an exception as it used to express a routine rather than an action occurring at a particular moment in time.

Examples:
Martha is always getting into trouble.
Peter is forever asking tricky questions.
George was always being reprimanded by his teachers.

Note that this form is generally used with the present or past continuous (he is always doing, they were always doing).

Cleft Sentences: It

Sentences introduced by 'It is' or 'It was' are often used to emphasize a specific subject or object. The introductory clause is then followed by a relative pronoun.

Examples:
It was I who received the promotion.
It is the awful weather that drives him crazy.

Cleft Sentences: What

Sentences introduced by a clause beginning with 'What' are also used to emphasize a specific subject or object. The clause introduced by 'What' is employed as the subject of the sentence as is followed by the verb 'to be'.

Examples:
What we need is a good long shower.
What he thinks isn't necessarily true.

Exceptional Use of 'Do' or 'Did'

You have probably learned that the auxiliary verbs 'do' and 'did' are not used in positive sentences - for example: He went to the store. NOT He did go to the store. However, in order to emphasize something we feel strongly these auxiliary verbs can be used as an exception to the rule.

Examples:
No that's not true. John did speak to Mary.
I do believe that you should think twice about this situation.

Note this form is often used to express something contrary to what another person believes.

Commonly Confused Word Pairs 1

beside / besides

beside: preposition meaning 'next to', 'at the side of'

Examples:

I sit beside John in class.
Could you get me that book? It's beside the lamp.

besides: adverb meaning 'also', 'as well'; preposition meaning 'in addition to'

Examples:

(adverb) He's responsible for sales, and a lot more besides.
(preposition) Besides tennis, I play soccer and basketball.

clothes / cloths

clothes: something you wear - jeans, shirts, blouses, etc.

Examples:

Just a moment, let me change my clothes.
Tommy, get your clothes on!

cloths: pieces of material used for cleaning or other purposes.

Examples:

There are some cloths in the closet. Use those to clean the kitchen.
I have a few pieces of cloth that I use.

dead / died

dead: adjective meaning 'not alive'

Examples:

Unfortunately, our dog has been dead for a few months.
Don't touch that bird. It's dead.

died: past tense and past participle of the verb 'to die'

Examples:

His grandfather died two years ago.
A number of people have died in the accident.

experience / experiment

experience: noun meaning something that a person lives through, i.e. something that someone experiences. - also used as an uncountable noun meaning 'knowledge gained by doing something'

Examples:

(first meaning)His experiences in Germany were rather depressing.
(second meaning) I'm afraid I don't have much sales experience.

experiment: noun meaning something that you do to see the result. Often used when speaking about scientists and their studies.

Examples:

They did a number of experiments last week.
Don't worry it's just an experiment. I'm not going to keep my beard.

felt / fell

felt: past tense and past participle of the verb 'to feel'

Examples:

I felt better after I had a good dinner.
He hasn't felt this well for a long time.

fell: past tense of the verb 'to fall'

Examples:

He fell from a tree and broke his leg.
Unfortunately, I fell down and hurt myself.

female / feminine

female: the sex of a woman or animal

Examples:

The female of the species is very aggressive.
The question 'female or male' means 'are you a woman or a man'.

feminine: adjective describing a quality or type of behaviour that is considered typical for a woman

Examples:

He's an excellent boss with a feminine intuition.
The house was decorated in a very feminine manner.

its / it's

its: possessive determiner similar to 'my' or 'your'

Examples:

Its color is red.
The dog didn't eat all of its food.

it's: Short form of 'it is' or 'it has'

Examples:

(it is) It's difficult to understand him.
(it has) It's been a long time since I had a beer.


last / latest
last: adjective usually meaning 'final'

Examples:

I took the last train to Memphis.
This is the last test of the semester!

latest: adjective meaning 'most recent' or 'new'

Examples:

His latest book is excellent.
Have you seen his latest painting?

lay / lie

lay: verb meaning 'to put down flat' - past tense - laid, past participle - laid

Examples:

He laid his pencil down and listened to the teacher.
I usually lay my pies on the shelf to cool.

lie: verb meaning 'to be down' - past tense -lay (be careful!), past participle - lain

Examples:

The girl lay on the bed asleep.
At the moment, he's lying on the bed.

lose / loose

lose: verb meaning 'to misplace'

Examples:

I lost my watch!
Have you ever lost anything valuable?

loose: adjective meaning the opposite of 'tight'

Examples:

Your trousers are very loose!
I need to tighten this screw. It's loose.

male / masculine

male: the sex of a man or animal

Examples:

The male of the species is very lazy.
The question 'female or male' means 'are you a woman or a man'.

masculine: adjective describing a quality or type of behaviour that is considered typical for a man

Examples:

She's a very masculine woman.
His opinions are just too masculine for me.

price / prize

price: noun - what you pay for something.

Examples:

The price was very cheap.
What's the price of this book?

prize: noun - an award

Examples:

He won a prize as best actor.
Have you ever won a prize in a competition?

principal / principle

principal: adjective meaning 'the most important'

Examples:

The principal reason for my decision was the money.
What are the principal irregular verbs?

principle: a rule (usually in science but also concerning morals)

Examples:

It's the first principle of aerodynamics.
He has very loose principles.

quite / quiet

quite: adverb of degree meaning 'very' or 'rather'

Examples:

This test is quite difficult.
He was quite exhausted after the long journey.

quiet: adjective meaning the opposite of loud or noisy

Examples:

Could you please be quiet?!
She's a very quiet girl.

sensible / sensitive

sensible: adjective meaning 'having common sense' i.e. 'not stupid'

Examples:

I wish you would be more sensible about things.
I'm afraid you aren't being very sensible.

sensitive: adjective meaning 'to feel very deeply' or 'to hurt easily'

Examples:

You should be careful with David. He's very sensitive.
Mary is a very sensitive woman.

shade / shadow

shade: protection from the sun, a dark area outside on a sunny day.

Examples:

You should sit in the shade for a while.
It's too hot. I'm going to find some shade.

shadow: the dark area created by something else on a sunny day.

Examples:

That tree casts a large shadow.
Have you every noticed your shadow getting longer as it gets later in the day?

some time / sometimes

some time: refers to an indefinite time in the future

Examples:

Let's meet for coffee some time.
I don't know when I'll do it - but I will do it some time.

sometimes: adverb of frequency meaning 'occasionally'

Examples:

He sometimes works late.
Sometimes, I like eating Chinese food.

the moment = immediately

Use 'the moment (that) to mean immediately.

I'll call you the moment I know the news.

She told me she would inform me the moment she heard.

Such' and 'So'

 'such' and 'so' are similar in meaning, but different in construction. The main difference between the two structures is that 'such' takes a noun phrase, whereas 'so' takes an adjective.

'Such … that' - takes a noun or modified noun in a noun phrase. 'That' can be used following the noun phrase but is not required.

such + adjective + noun + (that)

The recording was such a disappointment that I didn't buy any more from that artist.

It was such an expensive car that the didn't buy it.

'So … that' - takes an adjective. 'That' can be used following the noun phrase but is not required.

So + adjective + (that)

The game was so fascinating (that) he played for hours.

Our vacation apartment was so luxurious (that) we didn't want to leave.

'So' for Results

'So' can also be used to express a result. In this case 'so' is followed by a full clause:

I had a lot of time so I visited the museum.

She wasn't happy in her current position so she looked for a new job.

If Sentences

http://esl.about.com/od/grammarintermediate/p/g_conditional.htm

The Challenge of Teaching Listening Skills

http://esl.about.com/cs/teachinglistening/a/a_tlisten.htm

into / in

Use 'into' when indicating change. Use 'in' when indicating state or place.

He drove into the garage.

He studies in that classroom.