Grammar: Using 'what' to give emphasis - BBC English Masterclass

Improve your English grammar with the BBC. Use the word 'what' in English to emphasise something you want to say! 'What' we want to say is:Watch this free online English lesson to find out how to use 'what' for emphasis.
For more, visit our website: www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/...
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Linking words of contrast:
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How to mix conditionals:
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Verb patterns: 'stop buying' or 'stop to buy'?
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#learnenglish #bbcmasterclass #emphasis
Transcript:
Hi, Sian here for BBC Learning English. In this video, we're going to look at some more ways to give emphasis.
Now, I've just got back from holiday and I'm going to tell you all about it. But I'm going to give you two versions of this story. Version number one will have normal sentence structure. Then version number 2 - I'm going to add more emphasis. I'll do this by adding cleft sentences with 'what'. Listen carefully to the two versions of the story. How are they different? We'll find out afterwards.
Version one: normal sentence structure
I had the worst holiday. We got to our hotel and realised that our room had been double booked, so they moved us to a different hotel in a different town. It was horrible, noisy and dirty and there were insects everywhere. And the bathroom was awful. I touched the shower and it exploded and flooded the room.
I went to complain to the manager and he offered us another week there for free. I need a real holiday.
Version two - emphasis using 'what'
I had the worst holiday. So what happened was we got to the hotel and realised that our room had been double booked, so what they did was move us to another hotel in another town. It was horrible, noisy and dirty, but what I hated most was the insects everywhere. And in the bathroom, all I did was touch the shower and it exploded, flooding the room. I went to complain to the manager and what he did was offer us another week there for free! What I need now is a holiday!
How to emphasise the noun
OK, so when I emphasise nouns, I use this structure:
What + understood information + is was + emphasis
So, for example, instead of "I hated the insects," in the second version I said, "What I hated most was the insects everywhere."
Notice that even though it's plural, we use - normally use - 'was' here because we're saying 'the thing that I hated most was the insects everywhere.'
Again, instead of "I need a holiday," to emphasise, I said, "What I need now is a holiday."
Finally, you can also replace 'what' with 'all' meaning 'the only thing'. For example in the famous song, "All I want for Christmas is You."
How to emphasise the verb
To emphasise a verb, I use this structure:
What/All + subject + do/does/did + is/was + verb
So, instead of saying, "They moved us to another town," I said, "What they did was move us to another town." So that highlights the verb. Again, we can use 'all' instead of 'what' to say 'the only thing.' So for example, "I touched the shower and it broke," I emphasise using, "All I did was touch the shower and it broke."
How to emphasise the whole sentence
Finally, to emphasise the whole sentence, we can use this structure:
What happens/happened + is/was + clause
For example, I started my story with, "What happened was we got to the hotel and realised that our room had been double booked.
Useful when writing and speaking. But remember to use STRESS when speaking.
OK, so this structure is really useful when you're writing because when we're writing, we can't stress or give intonation. It's also used a lot when we're speaking. But remember to stress the key information. So not, "What I need now is a holiday," but, "What I NEED now is a HOLIDAY."
So go back, watch the video again and practise copying the sentences with stress. Now, what you need now is practice. So go to our website bbclearningenglish.com to practise the structure. Goodbye!

[@bbclearningenglish]

Found that useful? Sian gives more tips on giving emphasis in English: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hmjHlJd7pLN0lac

[@mariananoebarrera178]

Very useful! Thanks!!! I have a question, in the example: 'Rob ate my biscuits' from the previous video, if I want to give emphasis to the action with 'what cleft sentence' which is the correct option: What Rod did was to eat my biscuits or What Rob did was eating my biscuits or What Rob did was eat my biscuits? TIA

[@nordinesalmi1074]

I enjoyed it to listen to your natural speaking . You're amazing I love the way you explain things

[@chunganhle9176]

What an awsome voice!!!Thank you Sian, you are beautiful.

[@gianfrancomaggi4149]

THANKS A LOT SIAN FOR THE COMPLETE AND CLEAR EXPLANATION OF SUCH NOT EASY CONSTRUCTIONS-

[@Marychebaa]

Thank you so much for your lessons!!! Watching them daily is just so simple and useful that it can easily replace any TV shows at all)) So, what I gonna do now is go to your website and practice) Thanks for the motivation)) Mariia from Russia)

[@ericip778]

Excellent BBC English. I will learn and memorize everything. Thank you for your lesson.

[@mohsenbagheri9267]

I will highly appreciate. Thank you for your useful lesson.

[@emersoms]

Very useful! Thanks Sian and I love you!

[@imaneennabihi151]

thank you for your efforts !!

[@oyamamakoto1984]

Thank you for your videos, It's so useful!!

[@kimdinh7437]

BBClearningenglish is one of the best websites to improve our English skills. Thank you so much for your hardworking!

[@gabrielydacas2004]

All I need now is keep practicing to improve my English skills

[@tracyvu2517]

Thanks a lot guys, it's very useful!

[@lesslyvilla16]

Great way to explain!!! congrats!!

[@periklisgewrgiou5327]

thank you so much

[@AnhNguyen-yg7zu]

What i want to say right now is thank you so much for making this extremely helpful video @@

[@celinejesus7703]

This is great, love it!

[@antonromanenko3200]

Thank you

[@anahitaghulam6420]

Thank you very much for your great lesson s.

[@SivakumarChellakkann]

Really awesome excellent teaching shane.!!!

[@trailermovies6357]

Thanks a lot❤❤

[@sanpark4127]

Thank you for teaching me, I am really appreciated

[@hemalinawarathna7319]

Thanks

[@tuan142kbgl]

What I wanna say is thank Sian, what you said was has a profound impact on people like me. What I need now is practice

[@QuynhNhu-nf8lq]

I love her voice so much. Is there any series featuring her ?

[@mad3269]

Well done Sean... You are the Best!!!!

[@sivakumarchellakkannu1941]

You are naturally excellent!!!...

[@germendalchitra6903]

excellent

[@tomrox8921]

Thanks Sian.

[@conorlee3391]

When it comes to learning English, what I considered the best online resource is BBC Learning English. Thank you so much, BBC Learning English and I'll never get tired of watching the programs you guys present. 👍👍👍👍

[@bbclearningenglish]

Thank you for your kind comment, Conor Lee! We're glad you like watching our programmes! ☺️

[@fahimeemadi3398]

what I like is BBC Learning English It is important for me to learn all the videos you have ever uploaded.

[@mariamkinen8036]

Good point. Story-telling

[@mahyaaliasgari8573]

Honestly I had problems when my teacher taught it to me but now i understood thank you so much

[@kausarperveen9453]

Thanks. Great.

[@bbclearningenglish]

Thanks. Glad you found it useful. 👍

[@ShiharaWijesinghe]

What i noticed in bbc english videos is that never get bored while learning.. All i wanna say is keep up your good work

[@blacklevi3413]

always all I do is learn English ,I really love this language. Thank you for help

[@loydsevilla146]

Thanks..

[@olivioanicetomunizfilho3144]

Nice class

[@jorgeibanez886]

thanks a lot, very useful :)

[@user-qe9qu4it3u]

Thank you soo much😊👍☺

[@noobarazeez3216]

You are great 👍🏻

[@antho047]

I do learn quicker with these videos. it's easy to understand and better than just listing people talking

[@cesararturosanchez8498]

Quite Beautifull l loved like so you did

[@seongwonjeong7307]

Gorgeous.

[@jakepitts6282]

What you need now is practice!

[@user-ho7fx1lt1f]

Why - hahaha? Your lesson is very useful for me. Thanks a lot for your support!

[@mr.tech252]

Thank you bbc

[@AlexBodrovFamily]

Thank you very much guys for doing what you are doing! Special thanks to Sian for her "bye" gesture;))

[@user-ql4ns7yp3e]

useful

[@muhammadandrialfian4151]

Thank you very much for the lesson, very useful

[@bbclearningenglish]

You're welcome, Muhammad Andri Alfian! ☺️

[@muhammadandrialfian4151]

BBC Learning English what I need now is keep practicing

[@emrearslan1541]

I love this angel

[@ThreeBlackCatsInaAlley]

Sian! Your voice is very wonderful :)

[@Kevin509wisdom]

It is no exaggeration to say what made me fall in love with BBC Learning English is Sian. All I did in the past few weeks was (to) imitate her. Then what I need to do next is daily practice. GOOD LUCK TO ME!

[@sridharrp8898]

That was helpful.Background was always interesting.XD

[@didimatueno8772]

Oh my God perfect lesson Question please: Does the verb emphasised stay in base form ?

[@ck0024]

Learnt new things

[@ambar9232]

Please make more such Masterclass or Advanced and Proficiency contents.

[@IagoSilva131]

What I like about this video, is that I can use it in class.

[@marcoanazco9963]

Excellent, thank you BBC

[@metebksa4225]

What I need now is travel to London to learn more with T.Sian

[@alicetornabene8211]

Very good and funny videos bring a great sense of entertainment!

[@gpgp01]

It must be very useful when writing. That is what I'd like to say.

[@yiwendong]

All I need now is practice, a lot of practice~

[@abdulrahmanmuslih141]

what i know is I enjoyed this lesson

[@vascoambrosio7798]

What I need now is exercises on the topic you just taught

[@bbclearningenglish]

Good use of emphasis :) You'll find the practice exercises and extra information here: www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/course/towards-advanced/unit-14/session-1

[@honeyhadid5850]

What I think now is how can I memories more vocabulary without forgetting

[@MohamedMohamed-oh4eb]

I love you 😘😘😘

[@abdulsamadfattani7616]

Hi Sian, I only watch youtube channel and never visit the website. Is this okay from learning point of view ?

[@heitoresp5186]

👍

[@user-ho7fx1lt1f]

Спасибо за урок. Россия Астрахань / Геннадий

[@bbclearningenglish]

Hi there. Thank you for your comment. Please write in English :)

[@user-hl2db9qs8f]

bbclearningenglish he said " thanks u for lesson. Russia ,Astrachan. / (his name) Genadiy

[@hassan6216]

hi Sian 😍😘💙

[@przemekx4182]

Sian is beautiful

[@MsKur0saki]

Przemek X she looks like song ji hyo korean actress,

[@Kevin509wisdom]

@@MsKur0saki agree with you

[@karolinellanos5538]

What I need is get a good great grade in the final exam. 😢😢

[@harmomixer2039]

Karoline Llanos You will just practice intensively

[@Ebaristo.Pineda]

Thanks, alluring girl. I cannot understand Engish English, though.

[@pullaiahsake9904]

wt I want most is to learn the English from the BBC learning English.com

[@ivanoov3285]

what i do is learn how to emphasize the sentences

[@syfa7615]

What i liked most was the dresses. All i want in this world is peace. What i need now is some rest.... All they did was give us some advices. What he did was move to the next room.... What happened was he couldn't control the speed of the vehicle & met with an accident.

[@sil3418]

It makes the narrative longer. Shouldn't we avoid that and instead give more information using less words.? Thanks

[@anamajey5]

What I REALLY need is practice my English! xdd

[@vascoambrosio7798]

If only we had exercises on each topic it would be great

[@bbclearningenglish]

You'll find them here: www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/course/towards-advanced/unit-14/session-1 Enjoy :)

[@watermelon8542]

All I want now is more time to learn English

[@subhanfaisalfaisal4682]

Hit like if you noticed, that Sian was reading since the 0:44 sec till 1:10 min Repeat it and notice, that there was the sentence wrote on something, right below the camera...😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@emell7025]

i'd like to give you some emphasis

[@handiep2020]

All she needed was a holiday, nonetheless what the manager did was offered her to stay in the poor condition hotel for the extra one week free 🤣

[@ninglee9907]

What I need now is a cake

[@LeoNardo-cm6ch]

Oh, What I surprised most was The BBC LEARNING ENGLISH.

[@artofrepetition]

All I did was touch the shower. I wonder why in this sentences there're two verbs, was and touch?

[@bbclearningenglish]

Hi! A very good observation and a great question. This type of structure is called a 'cleft sentence'. In this type of structure there are three verbs! It looks like this: What/All + subject + do/does/did + is/was + verb. It's used to emphasise a verb (the third one). You can find more detailed information on it here: www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/course/towards-advanced/unit-14/session-1

[@DanielMedina-vj1zi]

All you need is love. The Beatles.....

[@bbclearningenglish]

Good example :)

[@user-gl2es7mi3l]

Very good and funny videos bring a great sense of entertainment!