Place Emphatic Words at the End (Simple Version)

Okay, here's the simple version:

• Put the words you want to emphasize at the end of a sentence.

Words at the end of a sentence carry more "weight" than words in the beginning or the middle. A simple example should help make this clear. Imagine that you have written the following sentence:

He turned around and a gun was in his hand.

What you have done, intentionally or not, is emphasize the fact that the gun is in his hand (as opposed to some other place where the gun might be).

Probably, what you meant to emphasize was the fact that he had a gun, in which case you should have placed "gun" at the end of the sentence, like this:

He turned around, and in his hand was a gun.

That sentence carries a lot more "punch."

So keep this principle in mind:

• Whenever possible, put the "new" or "important" information at the end of a sentence.

We will return to this principle in a later lesson.

Instructions for the Quiz

Answer the questions.

Quiz