# Emphasis



## cpuzey1

What's the best way to give certain words emphasis in Polish, as in the following example:

She didn't know, but I _did. _

Thank you.


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## NotNow

The use of pronouns is one way.  Instead of saying _wiedziałem_. one can say _ja _
_wiedziałem_ for emphasis.


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## cpuzey1

Could you also say for example _Ona nie wiedziała, ale *ja tak.*_

This occurred to me after I had already asked the question...

Thanks!


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## dn88

cpuzey1 said:


> Could you also say for example _Ona nie wiedziała, ale *ja tak.*_



Yes, this is probably the best way to say that and avoid repetition at the same time.

_Ona nie wiedziała, ale *ja wiedziałem.*_ is correct as well but "wiedziałem" used on its own can't do the job in this sentence - the pronoun "ja" is indispensable.


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## cpuzey1

How would you convey the notion of emphasis in this sentence:


Well, as it turns out, this person _did _know.


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## BezierCurve

You could use "jednak", which is used when someone previously doubted what you just want to say:

Cóż, jak się okazuje, ta osoba jednak wiedziała.

Or go for "faktycznie/rzeczywiście" (indeed).


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## Thomas1

You can also do it by intonation:
Jak się okazało, ta osoba *wiedziała*.
The tonic is a little more stressed in such a case (you do it in English too, by the way). Athough words like 'faktycznie, rzeczywiście, dokładnie, etc.' do the job nicely.


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## cpuzey1

Dziękuję wszystkim za świetne odpowiedzi! Wesołych świąt!


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## symbolt

I would just like to add that in most of your examples, what is emphasized was put at the end of the sentence (probably would also work with the end of an embedded clause), which may be another clue as to how to emphasize things in Polish. There's also some paralinguistic features (the emphasized word is louder and a little longer/more stressed), but much less than in English equivalents.


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