"I did want to" versus "I wanted to"

Question

When is it correct to use the form "I did want to ..." versus "I wanted to..." (substitute other verb for "want"). I often find myself changing from the former to the latter when I edit early drafts, but sometimes the former seems to better emphasize my "wanting".

EDIT: Part of my curiosity was that this has the feel of a slightly different tense, but it is not. The discussions in the following, which I found rather indirectly via the ELL meta site, are more what I was looking for. Difference between "did + verb" and just "verb+ed"

I would suggest that it's just for emphasis. However note that in the negative, "did" is always used. "I didn't want to". To add emphasis, I would remove the contraction: "I did not want to go" — James Webster, Sep 03 '13 at 15:22
Instead of 'want' you can use the word 'desire'. 'I did desire to' or I desired to. — Sweet72, Sep 03 '13 at 15:27

score 6 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 03 '13 at 15:14

6

I wanted to do this is the ordinary past tense. I did want to do this adds emphasis to the verb.

answered Sep 03 '13 at 15:14

3

Or adds emphasis to the past tenseness...I did want to do this, before I found out blah blah blah... – JeffSahol Sep 03 '13 at 19:15

"I did want to" versus "I wanted to"

1 Answers1