Emphatic constructions. Gerund

– Hello, our dear friends!

– Welcome to our grammar lesson!

– We are glad to see you.

– Today we would like to start our lesson with the dialogue.

– Let’s listen to this dialogue right now.

– Hi, Teddy. Are you still mad at me?

– Hi, Joshua. Of course, I’m mad at you. And I don’t have time for you.

– What I need to tell you won’t take much time.

– Joshua, I don’t want to listen to you! It was you who failed me!

– Yes, I know, Teddy. It is me who is responsible for this awful situation. And I’m so sorry for that, I really am!

– Joshua, instead of apologizing, try to make things right.

– Okay, Teddy. I’ll try my best, because I don’t want to lose our friendship. And next time I’ll ask you before taking a serious decision.

– We’ll see! Bye, Joshua.

– Bye, Teddy.

Now look through the sentences in bold once again. In the first sentence, we’ve used the emphatic construction with the word “what”. In the second sentence – the emphatic construction “it was…who”. In the third sentence – the emphatic construction “it is…who”. In the fourth sentence, we’ve used the gerund. And in the fifth sentence, we’ve also used the gerund.

What is an emphatic construction? What emphatic constructions are there in the English language?

What is a gerund? When can we use it?

You can find the answers to these questions in our lesson.

So, today in the lesson we will:

● talk about emphatic constructions and gerunds;

And

● put the knowledge into practice.

Emphatic constructions are used to emphasize a particular part of a sentence. While speaking, we can emphasize this part with stress and intonation alone, but we can also emphasize it by splitting one sentence into two parts (cleft sentences), bringing the element we want to emphasize to the beginning (fronting) or reversing the normal word order in a sentence (inversion).

First, let’s talk about cleft sentences.

In a cleft sentence information, which could be given in one clause, is divided into two parts, each with its own verb. We often use cleft sentences to emphasize some piece of new information, to give explanations or to make a contrast with a previous statement.

There are 2 main types of cleft sentences:

It-cleft sentences

And

Wh-cleft sentences

It-cleft sentences have the following structure:

it + verb “to be” + emphasized word/phrase + that/which/who

For instance:

It is the Eiffel Tower that I most want to see.

It was my husband who you spoke to on the phone.

The information that comes after “it” is emphasized for the listener. The clause that follows the it-clause contains the information that is already understood.

Pay attention! We can use it-cleft sentences to emphasize subjects, objects, adverbial phrases or prepositional phrases.

For instance:

Jake took Kate to the party on Friday. (It’s a simple sentence.)

Let’s emphasize the subject:

It was Jake who took Kate to the party on Friday.

Let’s emphasize the object:

It was Kate that Jake took to the party on Friday.

Let’s emphasize the adverbial phrase:

It was on Friday that Jake took Kate to the party.

Let’s emphasize the prepositional phrase:

It was to the party that Jake took Kate on Friday.

Wh-cleft sentences have the following structure:

wh-clause + verb “to be” + emphasized word/phrase

For instance:

What the boys are doing is taking Jennifer to the match.

What we need to do is get new batteries for this remote control.

Wh-cleft sentences are most often introduced by the word “what”, but we can also use the words “why”, “where”, “how”, etc.

Pay attention! We can also emphasize something by using “the thing”, “the only thing”, “the last thing” or “all”.

Look at the examples:

The only thing we didn’t find was the key to the cellar.

The last thing Wendy wants is to upset her husband.

Now let’s talk about inversion.

We can invert the subject and the auxiliary/main verb in the sentence to give emphasis. If there is no auxiliary verb, we use “do” or “does” in the Present Simple and “did” in the Past Simple.

We can use inversion after:

adverbs with a negative meaning such as “hardly”, “scarcely”, “rarely”, “little”, “never”, etc.

For example:

Rarely do we go out during the week.

the word “only” with time expression or prepositional phrase

For instance:

Only later did he manage to get permission.

the expressions “(in) no way”, “at no time”, “under no circumstances”, “on no occasion”, “no sooner…when”, etc.

For example:

No sooner had I taken of my coat when the telephone rang.

the particle “not” with time expression, person, thing or the word “only”

For instance:

Not a single stone was left unturned in the search.

clauses beginning with “neither” or “nor”

For example:

They have no intention of paying and neither have we.

clauses beginning with “may”, which describe a strong wish

For instance:

May he live to regret this decision!

the words “so” and “such” placed at the beginning of a sentence

For example:

So angry was he, that he couldn’t utter a word.

the words “should”, “were”, “had” in conditional sentences

For instance:

Should you decide to come by, give us a call first.

Now let’s talk about fronting.

Sometimes, particularly in speaking, when we want to focus on something important, we bring it to the front of the sentence. This is called “fronting”.

For instance:

All of a sudden, it started to snow.

To meet him is my most fervent wish.

When the fronting involves the prepositional phrases such as “on the corner”, “in front of me”, etc., we often change the order of the subject and the verb.

For example:

On the corner stood a little shop.

In front of me was a little boy.

We’ve talked about emphatic constructions. Now…

Rewrite the sentences using emphatic constructions!

Let’s check the right answers!

1. Harrison lent him the money.

It was Harrison who lent him the money.

2. My father hardly trusted in my abilities.

Hardly did my father trust in my abilities.

3. Some teens make a gap year after graduation.

Only after graduation do some teens make a gap year.

4. We inherited everything except the house.

The only thing we didn’t inherit was the house.

5. My cousin told us what had happened.

It was my cousin who told us what had happened.

6. You should never press the red button.

Under no circumstances should you press the red button.

7. I had no sooner gone to bed when the telephone rang.

No sooner had I gone to bed when the telephone rang.

8. Jason always helps his mum about the house.

It is Jason who always helps his mum about the house.

Now, everyone, let’s talk about the gerund.

A gerund (-ing form) is a noun formed from a verb by adding the ending -ing.

For instance:

Kate and Nick enjoy spending time together.

I try to avoid going shopping on Mondays.

When can we use a gerund?

1. We can use it as a noun in the function of the subject.

For example:

Exercising is good for your health.

2. It is used after certain verbs such as:

Admit, appreciate, avoid, continue, deny, go (for activities), mind, prevent, finish, suggest, mention, escape, etc.

For instance:

You should avoid eating junk food.

3. We use gerunds after the verbs “love”, “like”, “enjoy”, “prefer”, “dislike” and “hate” to express general preference.

For example:

Benjamin prefers living alone.

BUT:

I would like to eat Chinese food tonight. (We haven’t used the gerund, because it’s a specific preference.)

4. Gerunds are used after expressions such as “be busy”, “it’s no use”, “it’s no good”, “it’s (not) worth”, “can’t help”, “can’t stand”, “there’s no point (in)”, “have difficulty (in)”, etc.

For instance:

I have difficulty in understanding what he says.

5. We use gerunds after prepositions such as “before”, “after”, “besides”, “instead of”, “in spite of”, “without”, etc.

For example:

Before going to bed, Jennifer locked the door.

6. Gerunds are used after phrasal verbs such as “give up”, “keen on”, “put off”, “go on”, etc.

For instance:

Wendy gave up smoking five years ago.

7. We use gerunds after prepositional verbs and adjectives such as “accuse of”, “prevent from”, “succeed in”, “result in”, “fond of”, “proud of”, “aware of”, “surprised at”, etc.

For example:

My brother is fond of pointing out my mistakes.

8. They are used after the verbs “hear”, “listen to”, “see”, “watch”, “notice” and “feel” to describe an incomplete action.

For instance:

I saw Tyler waiting for the bus.

Guys, we’ve talked about the gerund. Now…

Correct the mistakes in the following sentences!

Let’s check the right answers!

1. Owen ran five kilometres without stopping.

2. My brother is crazy about watching old silent films.

3. Erin would like to eat Italian food tonight.

4. Stephanie likes reading newspapers and magazines.

5. Jake, it is never too late to give up smoking!

6. I can’t help thinking that he’s made a mistake.

– Well done, everyone! Now you know more about emphatic constructions and gerunds.

– That’s all for today. Goodbye, friends.