Using "do" for emphasis

Monday, March 18, 2013




As I have established in previous posts, do is an auxiliary (helping) verb, but it does more than help - it actually does all of the work:

DO will change tenses depending on the meaning of the sentence.
DO must agree with the subject of the sentence.

Because a helping verb always does all the work, the main verb takes the base form. Example: Jason doesn't eat leftovers. (Doesn't is the helping verb in the present negative form; eat is the base verb.)

We know DO is essential for asking many types of questions. Do is also helpful for emphasizing a statement in the present or past tense. Once again we have the auxiliary verb DO in the present or past tense + the base form of the verb.

Example: "Marco has a nice car."

(One day you see him driving a Ferrari.)

You say: "Wow, Marco does have a nice car." A more emphatic sentence indeed!



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