Grammar / C1 Grammar lessons and exercises / Emphasis: Cleft Sentences, Inversion and Auxiliaries
We can use different grammatical structures to add emphasis to a whole sentence or to highlight one particular part of it.
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 really do know quite a bit about this.
Cleft sentences allow us to emphasise different parts of a sentence depending on which part is most important.
They are commonly introduced by it or by a clause beginning with what.
We can move the part we want to emphasise to the front after it + be.
Neutral:
You invited me to the party yesterday.
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.
Structure
It + be + emphasised element + who/that + clause
What clauses + be are especially common in spoken English. They emphasise the part of the sentence 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 type of cleft sentence can also begin with words such as where, why, who and how.
How the kids did this is still unclear to me.
The what clause can also come at the end:
The game we played was what I liked the most.
We can use inversion to add stronger emphasis. This often sounds more formal, persuasive or impressive.
We place a negative or restrictive adverbial at the beginning and invert the subject and auxiliary verb.
Rarely have I read such an original story.
Normal: I have rarely read such an original story.
If the original sentence has no auxiliary verb, we add do, does or did.
Not only do they have live reptiles, but you can also touch them.
Normal: They not only have live reptiles ...
Other negative expressions can also trigger inversion.
Little did I 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.
In spoken English, we can stress an existing auxiliary verb to add emphasis.
A: Why aren't you coming?
B: I am coming!
If there is no auxiliary verb, we can use do, does or did to emphasise the main verb.
I did like some of the exhibition.
That does make sense, actually.
I really do know quite a bit about this.
Structure
do / does / did + base verb
In British English, do can also make commands more emphatic. This sounds quite formal.
Do sit down, please.
Do be quiet!
| Structure | Purpose | Example |
|---|---|---|
| It + be + focus | emphasise one element | It was John who called. |
| What + clause + be | highlight information | What I need is rest. |
| Negative adverbial + inversion | formal emphasis | Rarely have I seen ... |
| do/does/did + verb | emphasise a statement | I do agree. |
❌ Rarely I have seen such a view.
✅ Rarely have I seen such a view.
❌ Not only they have reptiles ...
✅ Not only do they have reptiles ...
❌ I did liked it.
✅ I did like it.
It-cleft: It + be + important information.
What-cleft: What + clause + be + important information.
Negative adverbial: move it to the front and invert subject + auxiliary.
Emphatic do: do/does/did + base verb.