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The conversation worked like this:

Bill went to New York in 2002 to find his father.

Did he find his father?

My answer was: Yes he did find his father.

The questioner asked why I used 'did find' instead of found. Was I wrong to use 'did find'? And if I was wrong could someone explain why. Thanks.

dazzku
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2 Answers2

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Did find is emphatic, or contrastive.

Using the emphatic did find here has an implication of "contrary to what you might have expected, he found him". Found would be equally good, but without that implication.

Colin Fine
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  • True. However, I wonder how much this answer would help a beginner or a non-native speaker of English. We are on ELU not ELL. – Kris Jul 18 '18 at 11:23
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Did he find his father?

I simply write an answer of this question : -

Yes , he did.

else you have written right answer in your second paragraph that preferable.

Yes, he found him / his father.

QuokMoon
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