In English, the Emphatic Tense refers to using the conjugated form of the verb “to do” before a verb in the infinitive tense. While this may seem wordy and confusing, it’s not. Present Emphatic Tense illustrates a clear or forcible determination of an action.
While parts of speech in English seem confusing, when you understand the nuances, it becomes quite easy. If you can always remember “to do” appears prior to a verb, then you will fully grasp the scope of Emphatic Tense.
The Definition of Emphatic as a Word; in Grammar
The word “emphatic” is an adjective or noun that relates to the verb, “emphasize.” This means to illustrate, stress responsibility, or to highlight something outside of everything else. So, when we want to use the Emphatic Tense in English grammar, we are looking to emphasize a verb to illustrate or highlight the action.
The best way to do this is to conjugate the verb “to do” alongside the illustrative verb in its infinitive form; otherwise known as the unconjugated verb. This can be for both present tense (do or does) and past tense (did). But here, we’ll focus only on the present.
Examples of Present Emphatic Tense
Study the examples below to learn the proper use of the Present Emphatic Tense in English. These can come as direct sentences or come in the form of a question. Also, they can be affirmative or negative.
Basic Sentence Structure: Subject + DO/DOES [optional + NOT] + Infinitive Verb
I do not agree with your theories and assumptions about science.
You do understand that I do not know how to fix a car?
They do not want to travel too far away from home.
She does sing a little out of tune.
We do have several styles of brewing coffee and espresso.
He does not cling to his family like other people.
Martha does prefer sugar over honey.
Professor Smith does recite poetry from Old English often.
When we go Christmas caroling, we do not knock on specific doors.
Conclusion
When you use the Present Emphatic Tense, you want to emphasize the action of the subject in question. To remember proper usage of the Present Emphatic Tense, you first conjugate the verb “to do” which sits right next to an unconjugated form of whatever verb you want to use. It’s fairly simple, but it does take practice.
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