Why is "did" italicized for emphasis in "Where did you come from?"



Where did you come from?



What is the nuance of this emphasis? I could understand it if the emphasis were on where.



Answer



Here is a hypothetical conversation where emphasis on did might make sense:



Speaker A: "You look sweaty. Were you working out at the gym?"


Speaker B: "No, I didn't come from the gym."


Speaker A: "Well, where did you come from?"



Speaker A wants to elicit an affirmative statement by that emphasis. The emphasis also expresses annoyance at Speaker B's uninformative negated response.


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