Questions tagged [emphasis]
For questions on stressing particular words or phrases
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Which one is better "all incurred expenses" or "all expenses incurred?" [duplicate]
I am writing this document for HR at work and wish to outline what our staff should do to get reimbursed. The sentence should be something along the lines of...
All incurred expenses/expenses ...
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0
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34
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Is there a name for the spoken emphasis like "Cuh-lean" for the word "clean" [duplicate]
At 8:15 in this video. https://youtu.be/Sly2Ik216DU?t=491
Anna says "That was cuh-lean!" as an emphasis on the word "clean". I've noticed this a few times in the past. Another ...
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"What is it(,) to be a hero?"
My friend and I have gotten into a rather passionate debate about whether Karen Paige's monologue at the end of season two of Daredevil was written in a grammatically correct fashion.
On screen, we ...
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How to add/indicate my own emphasis to a quote that already contains emphasis?
Here's my original quote:
… at this point let’s remember that figurative does not mean “untrue”
or “less important.” Figurative language teaches true and important
matters. After one has determined ...
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2
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Why is "AT a restaurant" in the following sentence wrong? [closed]
So I'm using English for Everyone Practice Book Level 4 Advanced and on page 154, we are asked to Mark the sentence which is correct out of two options.
The two options are:
It was at a restaurant in ...
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29
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Emphasis using comma
Are these sentences correct?
And he called me, a liar.
And he called you, a doofus.
And he called you, dumb.
These are sort of like used as sarcasm or irony. I don't know but these feel right in my ...
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What's the grammatical logic of emphatic phrases like "I do eat sushi"?
Let's consider, for example, this excerpt from a poem by Grenfell:
Those ancient Jew boys went like stinks,
They knew not reck nor fear,
Old Noah knocked the first two jinks,
And Nimrod got the spear....
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Difference between “my feet” and “my two feet”
I'm trying to translate the following Prophetic tradition from Arabic to English:
ألا كل شيء من أمر الجاهلية موضوع تحت قَدَمَيَّ، وربا الجاهلية موضوع كله، وأول ربا أضع ربا العباس بن عبد المطلب.
A ...
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Adverb placements
I came across this sentence and had a hard time understanding it because of the adverb placement. I thought adverbs or adverb phrases usually come right after the verb when "be" is the main ...
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2
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330
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Is it orthographically ok to capitalize first letters of important phrases? [duplicate]
Say I am writing an article on something like the Riemann integral or morphogenesis. I have two questions regarding capitalization.
Is it allowed to capitalize the first letter of a composite name of ...
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Does the verb “have” make an emphasis in “What have you there in your pocket?”
“What have you there in your pocket?”
I got confused when first saw this sentence. I thought “have” is a auxiliary verb but there is not other verb in the sentence. So it must be a verb meaning “own ...
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Why is emphatic "Yes, I know THAT" okay, but not "Yes, I know IT"?
In the context of this ELL question asking about using pronoun "it" as an object, it struck me that whereas it's perfectly natural to place heavy stress for emphasis on the "...
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Is it possible to start a sentence with "worse than"? [closed]
In English, is it possible a sentence like this?
Worse than those who do something are those who do something else.
I think this would be the standard sentence:
Those who do something else are ...
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36
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'Did/does' at head of subordinate phrase
He does have a sense of humour does Mr Marr.
Nigel Williams, 1992
Is this double use of do just doubly emphatic?
Secondly, why can't do be used similarly, for example with a plural proper noun?
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How to underscore words/phrases in notes and presentations when it comes to articles?
I am not a native English speaker and in my language we don't have articles.
So, I would like to ask whether you underscore (or make bold) (in your personal notes or in public presentations, etc.) or ...
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Is "that"a conjunction or other grammatical function in the emphatic structure"It is .... that ..."?
For example, in the following sentence
It is Mary that brought me this book.
Does "that" serve as a conjunction or pronoun or any other grammatical function? And Why?
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The uses of 'very' as an emphatic word [duplicate]
I have found a sentence in a text in which the word 'very' works as an emphatic word. The sentence is: "These very habits should be formed in student life." The word 'very' emphasizes the ...
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1
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How to say that something happened in the past while emphasizing that it is not finished yet?
Let's say that we are in a 2-round tech-competition for which we have already entered the selected list of the first round and waiting to see the results for the 2nd round. Here I want to put the ...
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Is the sentence ‘Without so much as a call or a letter – he showed up‘ written with acceptable punctuation?
Please consider:
Without so much as a call or a letter – he showed up.
Is sentence (1) above not only grammatical in syntax and morphology, but
also acceptably punctuated according to guidelines for ...
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225
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Two consecutive sentences starting with the same word. The words have different meaning. How to make an emphasis on the correct meaning?
I work on a technical manual where each separate rule is followed by an example. (Actually, each rule is followed by two examples, a correct one and a wrong one. The wrong ones are skipped for brevity....
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“The election finished the democratic party as a force in national politics.” [closed]
It doesn’t matter the results of the election or the specific election, I just need to know if this means the party had no influence after the election or if they finished as a force, ie. gained power ...
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351
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Does "also" in a simple interrogative sentence affect the subject or the verb?
"Should I also join the team?"
Here does "also" affect "I " (the subject) or "join" (the verb)?
Does it mean
A) Other people are joining the team and you're ...
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58
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Should you include the word "the" inside a quoted/emphasized words? [closed]
I'm having a bit of trouble regarding whether to include the word "the" inside a quoted words.
For example:
None was known when the Great Cataclysm had happened on the other hand.
Should I ...
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1
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509
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Each sentence is emphasising a different message depending on the word stress?
I need to talk to our lecturer tomorrow.
I need to talk to our lecturer tomorrow.
I need to talk to our lecturer tomorrow.
I need to talk to our lecturer tomorrow.
I need to talk to our lecturer ...
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0
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It would probably have been X the one variant that
Let's say that I am being asked which of a series of variants is the one that, in my opinion, prevailed historically.
Can I answer emphatically, expressing an assumption about the past, that way: It ...
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2
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315
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Why is "did" before the subject to show emphasis?
I read a passage and there is one sentence I don't know the usage of it. The sentence is
“And did this young woman have a long memory.”
I know ‘did’ is for emphatic use, but why it can be put ...
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124
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Emphasis on "however"
I would like to know that in which position (front, middle, end) the term "however" sounds more emphatic.
Example:
England lost the match. However, they can win the the tournament if they ...
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x-times not-comparitive adjective
Can anyone confidently assert that "x-times" can be used preceding an adjective that is not comparative? It's role would be simple emphasis, like "very." Here are thought up examples. I cannot find ...
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2
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Can I use the verb 'to do' to emphasize the verb 'can'?
The verb 'to do' can be used to emphasize things, e.g.: I do understand it.
Can it be used to emphasize a sentence that uses the verb 'can'? E.g.: I do can play football.
If not, how could I achieve ...
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No travel advised
I certainly understand what "no travel advised" means (context is a map on road conditions), but I'm curious about the emphasis. In my mind I can parse the sentence in two ways:
No (travel advised)
(...
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"because it is she that I have watered": not "her"? [closed]
In the book The Little Prince, there’s
because it is she that I have watered; because it is she that I have put under the glass globe
Why “she” instead of “her”?
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How would I use "the heck" or "on earth" to put emphasis on a "how much" question? [closed]
I would like to add "on earth" or "the heck" to put emphasis on a "how much" question. What I mean by this is you can add emphasis to a "what" question like this, for example:
What is a ...
can be ...
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Emphasis sentence? How to interpret this sentence? (With ~)
I am very sorry for the ambiguous title. But I don't know how to explain it.
With no artist in any art form is the life equivalent to the work, exactly; still, each informs the other, and the ...
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What topicalizing role does "do" play in "Only now do we have what we need to move forward"?
In the sentence "Only now do we have what we need to move forward", the word do clearly has some emphasizing meaning.
But I would like a more precise understanding. Topicalization and fronting are ...
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This question is the BEST-uh!
Is there a name for the extra “uh” syllable that is sometimes added as emphasis on the end of words? From looking for examples this is an extra schwa syllable added to words. From further searching it ...
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When italicizing a noun to emphasize, italicize the article or not?
When I want to emphasize a noun by italicizing, do I need to italicize the article of the noun or not? For example, is this correct?
"Is it an apple?"
"No, it is an orange."
Or, ...
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ADV of Manner between Transitive Verb and DO
In a book about the philosophy of William James, I have found the pattern transitive verb (to appreciate) + adverb of manner (fully) + direct object (what James means by distinguishing knowing into ...
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Use of italics and BrE single quotation marks
I'd like to know when to use italics and when to use single quotation marks should be used. For example:
The word he was looking for was ‘abjuration’.
vs
The word he was looking for was ...
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How to emphasize the word I in a sentence?
So usually if I want to emphasize a word in a sentence (casual conversation not professional writing style) I'll capitalize it. Or maybe bold if that formatting option is available. But the word "I" ...
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How to emphasize that a problem is represented even in smaller group?
I am trying to emphasize the significance and prevalence of some problem by showing that even in a small group of people this problem is represented very well.
Just for example, let's say that we ...
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2
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120
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Convey 2 meanings in one sentence correctly [closed]
The sentence is
"Tom was the first ever student from Jacksonville University to qualify for the prestigious math competition, while only being in his sophomore year"
What i what to emphasise is that ...
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If a speaker clearly emphasizes a word or a term, should it be written down in quotation marks?
If a speaker clearly emphasizes a word or a term, should it be written down in quotation marks?
e.g. Everyone's so intimidated by "big data."
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How to stress the subject in a question beginning with "why"?
English isn't my native language, so my question might seem dumb to you, but I wanna be sure.
I'm writing some fiction, but I have some problems with syntax...
Here's the question at issue : "why is ...
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Determining the stressed word in a sentence when using possessive
In the following sentence, which word should receive the stress:
This is the dog’s collar.
I fully understand that in different contexts, different words will be stressed. But I’m asking about the ...
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4
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358
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Word for an ultimate target that MUST be achieved
Looking for any ideas as to a word or phrase that can be used for subject title.
Say we have a deadline at the end of the year with a target/objective that must be achieved at all costs.
Is there ...
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Is it correct to emphasize with "do" when using the verb to be?
I believe the following sentence is grammatically correct:
I do like burgers.
Meaning that the speaker wants to emphasize that he likes burgers.
What about something like:
I do am happy.
She does ...
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"It be...that..." Sentence Structure
As I have been taught in China, "It be ... that ..." is a sentence structure able to emphasize certain component by placing it right after "it be", as in the following examples.
Original: My father ...
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"significantly so" grammar construction
I have encountered some occurrences of phrases of the type:
the correlation between variables is strong, and significantly so...
and was asked to explain what the part after the comma meant. ...
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You should know that [...]
I believe "You should know that..." is commonly understood as something along the lines of: "It would be good for you to know that ...".
However, in a written sentence it's impossible to know where ...
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Does repetition in the following sequence of words display symbolism, emphasis, or both? [closed]
The sequence is "How much wood could a wood chuck chuck if a wood chuck could chuck would?" I am wondering if repetition, particularly of the word "wood", would display symbolism or any other kind of ...
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