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I've seen many people put an extra "DO" in a sentence. I know it's for emphasis, but is there an official name for it?

For example: "I like her" is perfectly correct, yet "I DO like her" is also pretty common.

One of my students asked me this and I just said it's for emphasis, but I can't figure out whether it's just colloquial usage or if there's an official rule for it.

Dinesh Kumar Garg
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Francis
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    It is for emphasis and it’s just as official as anything else about English. – Jim Aug 17 '16 at 03:12
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    Have you seen the following question: “did shoot” vs “shot”? I think your question is answered there (it's called "do-support"; "emphatic do" is one example of this). The link in Charlie's answer explains some of the grammatical rules associated with it. – herisson Aug 17 '16 at 07:49
  • "I do like her" simply means a different thing from "I like her". Just like "I like him" does, or "I hate her". These are just different combinations of words that mean different things. That's just how language works. You might as well ask if there's a term for using the word "her" and if that's colloquial or official. – RegDwigнt Aug 17 '16 at 12:57

1 Answers1

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Question: Do you/Don't you like her?

A: I do like her...

B: I like her.

case A: The word do suggests emphasis here on 'like' or 'her', and it is usually an answer to a question or it is followed by something.

I do like her but some of her habits irritate me

it's like saying, as a matter of fact, I do like her..(the emphasis is on liking her, and he might want to talk more about other qualities now..)

I do like her but I am not ready to pop the question anytime soon

I do like her but her brother gets on my nerves

Case B:

It is pretty straightforward and self-sufficient,stating the fact or giving information that he/she likes her. There is no emphasis. And sounds casual and nice.

Community
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Keeth
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