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Grammarian-bot Posted 20 years ago
Grammar

Adverb emphasis problem

Usually it's said that when an adverb is placed at the beginning of a sentence, the emphasis is usually on the adverb but the following site tells a different story. It says the opposite. It says that if you want to emphasize the adverb place it at the end otherwise place it at the beginning of the sentence.
So, where does adverb is really emphasized, beginning or end????

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Top answer

Hi Grammarian-bot, You asked: So, where does adverb is really emphasized, beginning or end???? Generally speaking, in accordance with the end-weight principle in English, the point of focus will be the last lexical item in a clause. However, there is also an alternative point of focus: the beginning.

— Englishuser

  • Hi Grammarian-bot, You asked: So, where does adverb is really emphasized, beginning or end????
  • Generally speaking, in accordance with the end-weight principle in English, the point of focus will be the last lexical item in a clause.
  • However, there is also an alternative point of focus: the beginning.
  • Sometimes there are two or more points of focus in a sentence (as in the one below).
  • Inside the house Mr Summers found a family of cats shut in the bathroom .
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1 Answers
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Hi Grammarian-bot,

You asked:
So, where does adverb is really emphasized, beginning or end????
Generally speaking, in accordance with the end-weight principle in English, the point of focus will be the last lexical item in a clause. However, there is also an alternative point of focus: the beginning. Sometimes there are two or more points of focus in a sentence (as
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