Emphatic tenses are used to express emotive or contrastive emphasis.

Present emphatic tense adds emphasis on something that is happening in the

present, whereas past emphatic tense shows that something, expected to
happen in the past, actually took place.
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Emphatic structures can be used both in the present tense and past tense, and
can have affirmative and negative forms.

Affirmative

 Present emphatic: Subject + do/does [auxiliary verb] + infinitive [without

to] + …
 Past emphatic: Subject + did [auxiliary verb in past simple tense] +
infinitive + …

Negative

 Present emphatic: Subject + do/does [auxiliary verb] + not + infinitive

[without to] + …
o Negative short forms are: don’t / doesn’t.
 Past emphatic: Subject + did [auxiliary verb in past simple tense] + not +
infinitive + …
o Negative short form is: didn’t.

 Present emphatic
o We use a present auxiliary verb do or does, do not or does not before an
infinitive in a sentence, in order to add emphasis to that verb.
o In its affirmative form has this structure:
Subject + do/does [auxiliary verb] + infinitive [without to] + …
o In its negative form has this structure:
Subject + do/does [auxiliary verb] + not + infinitive [without to] + …
 Negative short forms are: don’t/doesn’t.
 Past emphatic
o We use the past auxiliary verb did or did not before an infinitive in a sentence
in order to add emphasis to that verb.
o In its affirmative form has this structure:
Subject + did [auxiliary verb in past simple tense] + infinitive + …
o In its negative form has this structure:
Subject + did [auxiliary verb in past simple tense] + not + infinitive + …
 Negative short form is: didn’t.

Affirmative

 I do post letters to my family.

She does need you to have information about murder.
 I did post letters to my family.
She did need you to have information about murder.

Negative

 We do not enjoy telling jokes!

 We did not enjoy telling jokes!

Present Emphatic:

 I do post letters to my family.

 She does need you to have information about murder.
 We do enjoy telling jokes!
 We do not enjoy telling jokes!

Past Emphatic:

 I did post letters to my family.

 She did need you to have information about murder.
 We did enjoy telling jokes!
 We did not enjoy telling jokes!

Emphatic structures are used to underline the contrast between two opposite
things.

Moreover, present emphatic is used to express that we strongly feel what we

are talking about, whereas past emphatic underline the contrast between two
opposite past things.

Present emphatic is used to:

 Express that we strongly feel what we are talking about;

 Underline the contrast between two opposite things.

Past emphatic is used to:

 Show that something that was expected in the past actually happened;
 Underline the contrast between two opposite past things.

Emphatic tenses are used to express emotive or contrastive emphasis. They

can be used referring to the present tense or the past, in both affirmative and
negative forms.

Affirmative forms
Present emphatic: Subject + do/does [auxiliary verb] + infinitive [without
to] + …
Past emphatic: Subject + did [auxiliary verb in past simple tense] +
infinitive + …

Negative forms
Present emphatic: Subject + do/does [auxiliary verb] + not + infinitive
[without to] + …
Past emphatic: Subject + did [auxiliary verb in past simple tense] + not +
infinitive + …
 Present emphatic is used to express emotive or contrastive emphasis in the
present.

 Affirmative: Subject + do/does [auxiliary verb] + infinitive [without to]

+…
 Negative: Subject + do/does [auxiliary verb] + not + infinitive [without to]
+…

Past emphatic is used to highlight an action happened in the past, making a

contrast between two things.

 Affirmative: Subject + did [auxiliary verb in past simple tense] + infinitive

+…
 Negative: Subject + did [auxiliary verb in past simple tense] + not +
infinitive + …

For example:
— “I do work!” = The subject emphasizes that he/she works by using present
emphatic structure.
— “I did work!” = The subject emphasizes that he/she actually worked in the
past by using past emphatic structure.

Let’s revise this content within the {Form} section. Take a look
at the {Example} section that shows its use within a context.