Name: How to Add Emphasis in English - Improve Your Spoken English
Uploaded: 2020-06-12T02:43:20.000Z
Duration: 9 min 29 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Future simple

In this video, we're going to show you how to add emphasis while speaking English.

Adding emphasis is a way to show your listener that certain words or ideas are more important.

In this lesson, you'll see how to use different pronunciation features and grammar structures

to add emphasis to your spoken or written English.

Another thing: don't forget to turn on subtitles if you need them!

This video has English subtitles; click the 'CC' button on the video player to turn

On your mobile phone, use the settings icon.

Let's start with one of the most common ways to add emphasis to an idea.

What time is John flying to Paris tomorrow?

He isn't flying to Paris *tomorrow.* Did you hear the stressed word?

Hopefully, you heard that 'tomorrow', was stressed.

Before we answer that question, let's have a look at three more examples.

Listen for the stressed words and think about what the stress means.

In the first sentence, 'flying' was stressed.

When you stress one word, you show that this idea is more important.

Often, you do this to show contrast with an opposite idea, or to disagree with someone.

In the first sentence, adding stress to 'flying' means that he is going to Paris

tomorrow, but that he isn't going by plane.

What does it mean if you stress the word 'he'?

This suggests that other people we know are flying to Paris tomorrow, but

What does it mean if you stress the word 'tomorrow'?

Adding stress to 'tomorrow' means he is flying to Paris, but not tomorrow.

Maybe he's flying today, or the day after tomorrow.

Adding word stress is a simple way to add emphasis to your idea.

This is especially useful when you want to correct someone, or disagree with somebody

That basement scene was so frightening, I could hardly watch.

Not only did she direct it, but she also wrote and starred in it too!

Next question: what's the difference between these two sentences?

The structure in sentence two is called an inversion.

This is another way to add emphasis to your ideas.

When you make an inversion, you do two things: first, you start the sentence with an adverb,

like 'never', 'only', 'not only' or 'at no point'.

The adverb can be a single word or a phrase.

Secondly, you put an auxiliary verb before the main verb.

You can make inversions in different verb tenses.

Pause the video if you want more time to think.

Three is future, with 'will', and four is past simple.

Inversions like this are more common written English,

but you might hear them in conversations, too.

Like all emphasis, you shouldn't overuse them.

You're not coming to the party tonight, right?

Well, last time we went to their place, you were in a terrible mood.

It didn't look like you were enjoying yourself at all.

Well, I was quite tired, but I *did* have a good time.

I *do* hope you're bringing Michelle with you, too?

Is she going to make her orange cake again?

In the dialogue, you heard four examples of adding emphasis by stressing an auxiliary verb.

Can you remember the sentences you heard?

Subtitles ListPlay Video

How to Add Emphasis in English - Improve Your Spoken English

pronunciation

present

pattern

trick