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Transcript

Highlighting the verb

Distinguish "It"

Method:

Restore the original sentence.

"It is/was...that..." structure can't be used to highlight the predicate, the verb of the subject.

"Do", "Does" and "Did" are used to highlight the predicate.

If after removing "It is/was...that...", the rest words can still be a complete sentence, then "it" here plays as the emphasizer in an emphatic sentence. Otherwise, "it" plays as the formal subject in a complex sentence.

Do sit down.

He does work hard.

I do believe you.

He did remember writing to you last week.

Things you need

to know...#2

not...until...

It's in that very seat that the teacher sat down.

In that very seat the teacher sat down.

It is clear that not all boys like football.

Clear not all boys like football.

It was not until + highlighted part + that +other parts.

Only until, not till, can be used in this structure.

The part after "that" should be affirmative, not negative.

In emphatic sentences, the linking words consist of only WHO and WHOM when highlighted part is person, and THAT when highlighted part is person or thing. THAT is also used to highlight ADVERBIAL CLAUSE OF TIME and ADVERBIAL CLAUSE OF PLACE (not introduced by although, since, or for).

My husband didn't start to work until/till 10 p.m.

It was not until 10 p.m. that my husband started to work.

Regular radio broadcasts didn't begin until/till 1920.

It was not until 1920 that regular radio broadcasts began.

The verb form (person and number) after "that", "who" and "whom" should be consistent with the highlighted noun or pronoun (as in the original sentence). Unomissible.

Inverted sentence with "not until"

I didn't phone the office until/till Friday.

It was not until Friday that I phoned the office.

Not until Friday did I phone the office.

It was Joe whom he waited for last night.

It was in Shanghai that he met his wife.

It was in 1920s that the Long March started.

I didn't notice it until/till yesterday.

It was not until yesterday that I noticed it.

Not until yesterday did I notice it.

What is emphatic sentence?

Emphatic Sentences

Emphatic sentences (also called Cleft Sentence) are used to highlight or emphasize a certain part of the sentence to indicate its significance.

Things you need to know...#1

Emphatic sentences are often used to highlight the subject, object (including the prepositional object), and adverbial, which can be a single word, a phrase or a clause.

The basic form:

It is/was + highlighted part + that/who/whom + other parts.

In emphatic sentences, "it" , the emphasizer, doesn't contain any meaning.

It was in London that I met him.

There are only 2 tenses:

present and past.

More examples

They will have a meeting in this office tomorrow.

  • It is they who/that will have a meeting in this office tomorrow.
  • It is a meeting that they will have in this office tomorrow.
  • It is tomorrow that they will have a meeting in this office.
  • It is in this office that they will have a meeting tomorrow.
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