Does/do/did-emphasizing

Question

A: I need help.B: (The other person is leaving)A: No, please don't leave, I really do need help./I really need help. - Are both possible? What am I emphasizing here? The need?_______A: Did you see it?B: Yes I did. - Is this one equal to "I saw it."? There's no emphasizing in this one?B: Yes I did see it. - I'm emphasizing here?

BillJ · Accepted Answer

whatchadoinA: I need help. B: (The other person is leaving) A: No, please don't leave, I really do need help./I really need help. - Are both possible? What am I emphasizing here? The need?

Yes, both are possible; and no, you're not emphasising the need, but the positive meaning of the sentence. The distinction between positive sentences and negative ones is referred to as 'polarity':

[1] I need help. (unemphatic polarity)
[2] I DO need help. (emphatic polarity)

In [2] the stress is on "do". You could put stress on "need" in [1], but that would emphasise the meaning of the verb, not the positive polarity of the sentence: I NEED help, though I don't LIKE help.

Emphatic polarity also occurs in negatives:

[3] I do not need help (unemphatic polarity)
[4] I do NOT need help. (emphatic polarity)

For emphasis in a negative sentence, like [4], the stress falls on the "NOT", rather than on the "do".

whatchadoinA: Did you see it? B: Yes I did. - Is this one equal to "I saw it."? There's no emphasizing in this one? B: Yes I did see it. - I'm emphasizing here?

The same applies.

BillJ

Does/do/did-emphasizing

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