English Advanced Grammar Exercises – Emphatic forms exercise

1. Rewrite the sentences with it, what or all to give more emphasis.

1   I just want you to be honest with me. (all)

     …………………………………

2   The police were puzzled by how the criminal managed to escape. (what)

     …………………………………

3   The only thing we need is more time. (all)

     …………………………………

4   Kelly loves Dan for his sense of humour. (it)

     …………………………………

5   We want more information from witnesses. (what)

     …………………………………

2. Rewrite the sentences using the words and phrases below and emphatic forms.

goodness knows • on earth • trouble • truth • whatsoever

1   Who can tell why he gave up football, but he did.

     ………………………………..

2   Jenny and Greg are both nice, but they don’t get on.

     ………………………………..

3   What are you doing in my room?

     ………………………………..

4   To be honest, you really upset me – although I know you didn’t mean to.

     ………………………………..

5   I can’t speak any Spanish.

     ………………………………..

3. Rewrite the sentences using do / does / did or reflexive pronouns for emphasis.

1   Students must write the stories for the competition, and not download anything from the internet.

     ………………………………..

2   Please be on time tomorrow morning.

     ………………………………..

3   You have to cook your own dinner tonight.

     ………………………………..

4   Kelly really sings very well.

     ………………………………..

5   Nobody helped me to prepare the presentation.

     ………………………………..

4. Choose the correct words to complete the mini-dialogues.

Ruth:   I (1) myself / did like the song you guys performed, but whose song was it?

Jenny:   We wrote the song (2) ourselves / whatever.

Ruth:   Gosh, you (3) do / yourself have a lot of talent! Where (4) on earth / whatsoever do you get your ideas?

Dad:   (5) Goodness / Do tell us when you’re going to be home late, Carrie.

Carrie:   (6) What / All I did was stay a bit longer. Why all the fuss?

Dad:   (7) The truth / It is we were worried about you. (8) Goodness / Whatever knows – you read about terrible things in the paper these days.

5. Complete the text. Write one word in each gap.

ONLY the worst prisoners were sent to Alcatraz – an ‘inescapable’ prison island in San Francisco Bay which boasted inmates like Al Capone and George ‘Machine Gun’ Kelly. (1) ………………… made it impossible to escape Alcatraz was its location. It was tantalizingly close to San Francisco, but the (2) ………………… was the sea currents that pulled swimmers out to sea, and to their deaths. Some prisoners (3) ………………… try to escape from time to time, but they were all accounted for: caught, shot or drowned.

(4) ………………… was Frank Lee Morris’s arrival at Alcatraz in 1960 which changed things. (5) ………………… Morris had known from an early age was a life of crime, and getting (6) ………………… out of one prison after another. At Alcatraz he met Alan West and brothers John and Clarence Anglin. Together they made a plan, which involved secretly making (7) ………………… digging tools, a crude life raft – and models of their heads! At night, they dug holes in their cell walls – then through the roof of their cell block. (8) ………………… knows how they weren’t caught!

(9) ………………… was on 11 June 1962 that they attempted to escape. West couldn’t get through the hole in his cell, and (10) ………………… he could do was watch. The others (11) ………………… break out, leaving dummy heads behind in bed so it looked like they were sleeping. They climbed out of their cell block, then across the roofs of Alcatraz. (12) ………………… happened after that remains a mystery to this day.

The (13) ………………… is, ‘Did the men make it?’ How on (14) ………………… could they get across the treacherous bay at night? And even if they (15) ………………… reach the shore, where could they go afterwards, with no money or transport? Extensive searches revealed no sign of the men (16) ………………… . (17) ………………… the police could do was hope for a tip-off from the public. It never came. Perhaps the men drowned that night, or perhaps they spent the rest of their lives as free men – the (18) ………………… is that nobody knows.

6. Complete the dialogue with the words below.

do • fact • herself • in the world • is • it’s • question • what

Mel:   What (1) ………………… is the matter, Pascale? You (2) ………………… look miserable.

Pascale:   Mandy’s split up with me. (3) ………………… I don’t understand is why. The (4) ………………… is, she didn’t even tell me (5) ………………… – she asked Jane to do it.

Mel:   That (6) ………………… awful! Why not sit down and talk to her?

Pascale:   I’d like to, but the (7) ………………… is how. She won’t speak to me. I’m going to go round to hers later.

Mel:   Well, (8) ………………… important not to do anything rash. How about I speak to her first?