23
votes
Accepted
On June 18th, I did experience my first earthquake
The emphasis would be used if you are contradicting someone, or giving information that is the opposite of what is believed.
{two people are describing their trip to Japan}
We were in Japan ...
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9
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On June 18th, I did experience my first earthquake
There may be a circumstances for composing a sentence that way, but not for the reason of emphasis like you ask.
If you want to add extra emphasis to the sentence:
On June 18th, I experienced my ...
- 111k
9
votes
Accepted
Two questions about the 4th verse of "The Star-Spangled Banner"
In the English of the nineteenth century, and to some extent today, "shall" in the second or third person expresses determination, obligation or volition.
This was never a subjunctive, ...
- 231k
7
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Two questions about the 4th verse of "The Star-Spangled Banner"
As JamesK’s answer says, “shall” marks a future tense, nothing more. Well, possibly with a sense of determination (they’re determined to stand up and defend their homes) rather than simply occurring ...
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5
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On June 18th, I did experience my first earthquake
Using "did" as an auxiliary like this is (in my experience) very rare. It cannot simply be used in the same places as "didn't", because the "did" there is really just a helper for the "not".
As ...
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5
votes
"Let us do start" Right or wrong
No native English speaker would say "Let us do start" it's just wrong.
"Let us do [action]" is never used, but "Let us do [noun / noun phrase]" is OK, for example "...
- 9,467
2
votes
Accepted
"What went wrong?" Vs. "What did go wrong?"
The second form is idiomatic with one caveat.
When we say it, we emphasize did. This means that we would also emphasize it in writing:
What did go wrong?
It doesn't sound right if we don't ...
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2
votes
Accepted
"I did edit my question" or "I edited my question"?
I edited my question. is the normal way to express this.
I did edit my question. would be used in answer to a question, or to emphasize did for clarity.
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2
votes
Accepted
What is the difference beetween "You decided" and "You did decide"
In simple sentences, we don't usually use the verb to do to indicate the tense(past/present). It only occurs in a question(interrogative)
did you decide it? -past
do you decide it? -present
...
- 8,884
1
vote
Why "which train goes to" not which train does go to
Do support is required in questions where the verb and the subject are inverted, so
(archaic) See you that?
is replaced in modern English by
Do you see that?
Where the question word is the ...
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1
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Pronoun + do + main verb question
I don't see any reason for the "do" to be there. The sentence carries the same meaning with or without the "do". The "do" is only necessary if the writer is making some sort of comparison between ...
- 11
1
vote
Accepted
opposite of don't do - do do?
The simple present verb is shop.
I shop on weekends.
But we can also use the nominal -ing form to refer to the act as a common task or a regular chore, in which case we use the verb do:
This ...
- 137k
1
vote
opposite of don't do - do do?
This is the contrast that @TRomano is referring to
Some people don't do their shopping on weekends, and some people do do their shopping on weekends.
Instead of
I don't do my shopping on ...
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