Every language develops modes not just to share information but to convey thoughts and ideas more forcefully. In English, verbs evolved two special forms—
the emphatic tenses—to provide emphasis to the actions they describe. The
present emphatic emphasizes actions or conditions happening in the present, and the
past emphatic emphasizes those that occurred in the past. More commonly, however, the emphatic forms are used in two types of sentence constructions where emphasis is not intended: to work with the adverb “not” in negative sentences, and to form questions or the interrogative mode, in which the normal sentence construction is inverted. We must understand this distinction clearly to avoid mistakes in using the emphatic tenses.
The present emphatic tense of verbs is formed by putting the present-tense verb “do” or “does” ahead of their basic present form. Here are examples of the present emphatic tense used for emphasis: “I
do like apples.” “She
does think fast.” “They
do act slowly.” The intent is to express the action or state more forcefully. In contrast, here are examples when emphasis is not intended: “The group
does not agree.” (forming a negative sentence) “
Does the jury
have a verdict?” (forming a question).
The past emphatic tense of verbs is formed by putting the past-tense “did” ahead of their basic present form. Examples of the past emphatic tense used for emphasis: “I
did write that letter.” “She
did come as expected.” “They
did pay on schedule.” Examples when emphasis is not intended: “He
did not deliver as promised.” “
Didn’t you
finish the work last night?”
Sentences that use the emphatic tense for emphasis are either affirmative or negative responses to an apparently persistent question, whether stated or only implied. See what happens when this question is asked: “
Did you really
write that letter?” The emphatic answer would either be “I
did write that letter” or “
No, I
didn’t write that letter.” This is the situational context for using the emphatic forms. It conveys the sense of the speaker either explicitly owning or denying an act, or claiming to be correct in his or her belief regarding the action of others.
Another device for emphasis in the English language, one that is often misunderstood and much maligned, is
the inverted sentence. This grammatical form, in which the verb comes ahead the subject, does present agreement problems and possible confusion when used too often. Here’s an example from Shakespeare’s
Romeo and Juliet:
“Away from light steals home my heavy son /And private in his chamber pens himself...”Note that it is the verb “away” that starts the sentence, with the subject “son” far detached from it. The normal-order sentence would go as follows: “My heavy son steals home away from light...” A heightened emotional state can be felt in the first, a dry forthrightness in the second. That difference comes from the change in the form, order, and rhythm of the language itself.
It is, of course, not only in poetry where inverted sentences find excellent use. They can give prose much-welcome variety and punch when used judiciously in a sea of normal-order sentences. Feel the emotional difference between the following normal-order sentences and their corresponding inverted sentences: (1) “Her behavior could be explained
in no other way.” “
In no other way could her behavior be explained.” (2) “
I saw only then the possibilities of the new business.” “
Only then did I see the possibilities of the new business.” (3) “
She didn’t realize that he had deceived her
till she got the letter from a total stranger.” “
Not until she got the letter from a total stranger
did she realize that he had deceived her.”
THE LONE RED UMBRELLA GETS EMPHASIS IN A SEA OF BLACK UMBRELLAS
When using inverted sentences, however, we must make an extra effort to double-check agreement of the verb with the subject. This subject always follows the number of the verb and not of the nouns or pronouns that come before it: “In the grassy plains lives the last antelope.” It would seem that the singular verb “lives” should be the plural “live” instead to agree with “grassy plains,” but this proves to be not the case; the true subject is not “the grassy plains” but the singular “the last antelope.” See also what happens if the sentence were written another way: “In the grassy plain live the last antelopes.” In this case, the subject “the last antelopes” is plural, so the verb must also take the plural form “live” to agree with it.
Take note, too, that sentences beginning with “there” or “here” are actually in the inverted form: “
There is a can of corned beef in the cupboard.” “
Here comes the parade.” “There” and “here” are, of course, not the subjects. It is “corned beef” in the first, and “parade” in the second. The two sentences are actually emphatic forms of the normal-order “A can of corned beef is in the cupboard” and “The parade comes.”
(circa 2003-2004)This essay first appeared in the weekly column “English Plain and Simple” by Jose A. Carillo in The Manila Times
and subsequently appeared as Chapter 33 in the Usage and Style section of his book English Plain and Simple: No-Nonsense Ways to Learn Today’s Global Language
, © 2004 by Jose A. Carillo, © 2008 by the Manila Times Publishing Corp. All rights reserved. 
