I do hope you're going to like today's grammar lesson. It's not difficult but it does require
some concentration so do pay attention. It's called the emphatic DO. So we'll look at that
and we'll also look at when to use contractions and when not to use contractions in English
and we'll look at the rules for spoken English and for written English too. Let me tell you
you will like it. So if you want to know more then stay tuned.
Hello and welcome to LetThemTalk the channel that goes deeper about everything about the
English language. Now you've been learning English for a while
and so I'm sure you know the contractions. I AM - I'M, HE WILL - HE'LL. WE HAVE - WE'VE,
THEY WOULD - THEY'D ..... etc etc . And I'm sure you know the negative contractions too
CAN - CAN'T, SHOULD - SHOULDN'T, DO NOT - DON'T. WERE NOT - WEREN'T, ....Careful of the pronunciation
there WEREN'T Anyway. what sometimes causes confusion is
when we use contractions and when we do NOT use contractions.
The short answer is that in fluent speech we generally use contractions. for example.
"I'm happy" "it's cold"
"don't go away. " The exceptions are in situations when we want
to add emphasis to something, when we are contradicting someone or something and when
we are showing a contrast. Let's look at some examples
"I'll write to him tomorrow. " That's an example of fluent speech so it's
not contracted but "I understand he's upset and I WILL write
to him tomorrow. " Here you are emphasising WILL so you don't
contract. Notice the pronunciation stress is always on the uncontracted verb
Another example "it's the best one" (without contracting)
"It's not the cheapest but it IS the best" (here you're showing a contrast between what's
expected and the reality so you don't contract. "It's not the cheapest but it IS the best."
"He's available tomorrow" (no contraction) "He's not available today but he IS available tomorrow. "
"Where's Boris? That's a good question where IS Boris. "
You can have coffee but you CANNOT have beer
"I said that I'll win and I WILL win. " So in those sentences you are emphasising
a situation so you don't contract. And as I said always stress the uncontracted verb.
Now look at this example. "Why haven't you finished the work"
"I HAVE finished the work" Here we are contradicting someone so we don't
contract. Another example
"You're not British, you don't look British" "What are you talking about? I AM British".
Once again I'm contradicting here so I don't contract
I know what you're thinking. This is fine for auxiliary verbs and other words which
have contractions like WHERE AND WHEN but what about normal verbs (I'm not sure "nomal
verbs" is the right term maybe they are called "action verbs" but I'll call them "normal"
verbs. and by that I mean verbs such as LIKE, WANT, NEED, HOPE. And also in the affirmative
because of course in the negative you can always use DON'T, DON'T LIKE, DON'T NEED.
So these are normal verbs in the affirmative.
How do we emphasise these? for example. I hope to see you soon
How do you emphasise this? "I HOPE to see you soon" - no that sounds
wrong you can't stress the HOPE here. "I really hope to see you soon." Not right
Have you got it yet? "I DO hope to see you soon". That's right.
Just put DO before the verb and stress the DO (that's important) and you've the emphatic
DO. And it's for the same situations that we looked at before when we want to show emphasis
when we want to show a contrast and when we want to contradict.
Let's look at some examples of these. to show a contrast
"I don't like bananas but I DO like persimmons. "
It works In the past too. "I didn't see John but I DID see Samantha"
To contradict someone. "That's not true I DO respect you. "
I know what you are thinking. Isn't the emphatic DO just like VERY or REALLY. Well yes and
no. It can be a synonym but the emphatic DO is about stressing something it's not about
intensity. So for example.
- "Do you like doughnuts?" - "Yes, I DO like doughnuts but I prefer chocolate."
"I really like doughnuts" would mean something
different here.
Remember that you use the emphatic DO for emphasis (that's why it's called the emphatic
DO). It can make a sentence more polite for example: "DO sit down". (which is more polite than
please sit down) "DO come in, DO help yourself to cookies.
" "DO make yourself at home".
However, it's not necessarilly polite it depends on how you say it and in some situations it
can sound like an order "For god's sake DO sit down".
"DO shut up, do shut up." "DO leave me alone. "
So it's emphatic it's not necessaril polite.
Now we're going to look about contractions with written English. And this is quite a
controversial subject. So I'll tell you what I do but I'm sure someone out there is going
to disagree. So for the most part contractions are fine
in written English. The same rules apply for contracting and not contracting in written
English as they do in spoken English. If you're emphasising don't contract if you're not then
do contract. Remember that when you are writing to someone
you are kind of speaking to them only with written words. but you need to connect with
them in the same way with readable written text.
Now, I said for the most part because in formal written English it's still ok to write most
contractions. All the contractions with the verb TO BE. I'M, HE'S etc you can use CAN'T
SHOULDN'T there are a few contractions that I would avoid in formal written English and
those are the modal verbs with apostrophe 'VE. WOULD'VE, SHOULD'VE, COULD'VE, MIGHT'VE,
MUST'VE etc. Fine in everyday communications and in informal writting but if you're writing
an formal letter or a cv or an important document then don't contract it here. As I said people
disagree but that's my opinion and I think it's good advice.
Ok there you are. I do hope you enjoyed that and you learnt something too. Thank you for
watching stay mellow and see you soon.