Emphasis - Cleft Sentences, Inversion and Auxiliaries - LearnEnglish

Grammar (/grammar) > C1 grammar (/grammar/c1-grammar)
> Emphasis: cleft sentences, inversion and auxiliaries
Emphasis: cleft sentences, inversion and auxiliaries

Do you know how to add emphasis using cleft sentences, inversion or auxiliaries? Test
what you know with interactive exercises and read the explanation to help you.
Look at these examples to see how we use these structures.
What he loves about hiking is that it doesn't feel like exercise.

Not only did she sing at the talent show, she also danced!
I know it may surprise you, but I really do know quite a bit about this.
Try this exercise to test your grammar.
Grammar C1: Emphasis: 1

Complete the sentences with one word.
1. It my high school teacher who inspired me to become a writer.
2. He did that for you? That's amazing! He really love you, you know.
3. annoys me most about our neighbours is the noise they make.
4. You should take that job. Not only you be doing what you love, you'll also make
more money.
5. It was incredible! Never I seen such an exciting tennis match.
6. The screenplay was I liked most about the lm.
7. Painting a room is easy – you just roll the paint on. 's all the preparation that I
dislike.
8. No sooner the tickets gone on sale than they sold out.

Cleft sentences
Cleft sentences allow us to emphasise different parts of the sentence, depending on
which part is the most important. Cleft sentences are usually introduced by it or by a
clause beginning with what.
Cleft sentences beginning with it

Here is a simple sentence with no particular emphasis.
You invited me to the party yesterday.
We can emphasise different elements of this sentence by 'fronting' them, that is, moving
them to the front of the sentence after it + be.
It was you who invited me to the party yesterday.

Emphasis: you (not another person)
It was yesterday that you invited me to the party.

Emphasis: yesterday (not another time)
It was the party that you invited me to yesterday.

Emphasis: the party (not another event)
Cleft sentences beginning with what

What clauses + be are common in spoken English. They emphasise the part of the
sentence that is outside the what clause.
What I like best about going to the cinema is talking about the film afterwards.
What drives me up the wall is people talking during the film.
What I found was that the films my friends liked were very different from the ones
I liked.
This kind of cleft sentence can also begin with where, why, who, how, etc.
How the kids did this is still unclear to me.
We can also put the what clause at the end of the sentence.
The game we played was what I liked the most.
Inversion with negative adverbials

We can also use inversion to add emphasis. It has a more formal, persuasive and
impressive effect.
To invert a sentence, we put the adverbial (e.g. never, rarely, not only, etc.) at the
beginning and change the normal position of the subject and the auxiliary verb.
Rarely have I read such an original story.

(I have rarely read such an original story.)
If there is no auxiliary verb, we need to add one.
Not only do they have live reptiles but you can also touch them.
(They not only have live reptiles but you can also touch them.)
Little, no sooner and not

Some other negative words and expressions used like this are little, no sooner, never
and not.
Little did I realise that the restaurant was about to close.
(I didn't realise that the restaurant was about to close.)
No sooner had we got inside than the concert ended!
Not a single positive comment did I hear from Will.
Emphatic auxiliaries
In spoken English, we often stress the auxiliary verb to add emphasis.
A: Why aren't you coming to my birthday party?

B: I am coming! Who told you I'm not?!
If there is no auxiliary verb, we can use do, does or did to add emphasis. This works in
both spoken and written English.
A: I know you weren't keen on the exhibition.

B: I did like some of it. (You thought I didn't like it.)
A: Maybe that's why she was so happy.

B: That does make sense, actually. (I hadn't understood why before.)
In British English, do can also be used this way to make a command more emphatic.
This sounds quite formal.
Do sit down, please.

Do be quiet!
Do this exercise to test your grammar again.
Grammar test 2
Grammar C1: Emphasis: 2
Complete the sentences with one word.
8 items remaining
1. Never I forget the kindness they treated us with.
2. Under no circumstances students allowed to speak during the exams this week.
3. We thought he was lying. Only later we realise that he had told us the truth.
4. I really wanted to study at university was art.
5. was my uncle who told me the horrible news.
6. Never again I trust him after he told them my secret.
7. In an emergency, what you should do first call your family.
8. let me know when you arrive, please. Otherwise I'll worry!

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Grammar (/grammar) > C1 grammar (/grammar/c1-grammar)

> Emphasis: cleft sentences, inversion and auxiliaries

Emphasis: cleft sentences, inversion and auxiliaries

Look at these examples to see how we use these structures.

What he loves about hiking is that it doesn't feel like exercise.

Try this exercise to test your grammar.

Grammar C1: Emphasis: 1

1. It my high school teacher who inspired me to become a writer.

3. annoys me most about our neighbours is the noise they make.

5. It was incredible! Never I seen such an exciting tennis match.

6. The screenplay was I liked most about the lm.

8. No sooner the tickets gone on sale than they sold out.

Cleft sentences beginning with it

You invited me to the party yesterday.

It was you who invited me to the party yesterday.

It was yesterday that you invited me to the party.

It was the party that you invited me to yesterday.

Cleft sentences beginning with what

The game we played was what I liked the most.

Inversion with negative adverbials

Rarely have I read such an original story.

If there is no auxiliary verb, we need to add one.

Little, no sooner and not

No sooner had we got inside than the concert ended!

Not a single positive comment did I hear from Will.

A: Why aren't you coming to my birthday party?

A: I know you weren't keen on the exhibition.

A: Maybe that's why she was so happy.

Do sit down, please.

Do this exercise to test your grammar again.

1. Never I forget the kindness they treated us with.

4. I really wanted to study at university was art.

5. was my uncle who told me the horrible news.

6. Never again I trust him after he told them my secret.

7. In an emergency, what you should do first call your family.

8. let me know when you arrive, please. Otherwise I'll worry!

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