All the EMPLOYEES rejected him.

Analyze the question

This is an emphatic stress question (oral English). The word in capital letters, EMPLOYEES, carries the emphasis. The emphasised word usually points to the part of the question being corrected or contrasted. The sentence is the answer to a question that contained a different word in that position.

Explain the concept

When a speaker stresses a word, they are correcting or contrasting it with another word that was expected or assumed. So ask: "What word could have been wrongly used in the question in place of employees?"

• Stress on ALL would answer a question about "some."
• Stress on REJECTED would answer a question about "accepted."
• Stress on EMPLOYEES would answer a question about a different group of people, such as "employers."

Step-by-step solution

Sentence: All the EMPLOYEES rejected him.

• A. "Did all the employees reject him": the same words as the sentence, so nothing is being corrected. It also lacks a question mark. Not this one.
• B. "Did some of the employees reject him?": this would be answered with stress on ALL. Not this one.
• C. "Did all the employees accept him?": this would be answered with stress on REJECTED. Not this one.
• D. "Did all the employers reject him?": the only difference is employers versus employees. The reply stresses EMPLOYEES to correct the wrong word: "No, all the EMPLOYEES rejected him (not the employers)."

Answer: D

Tip: Find the capitalised word, then look for the option that differs from the sentence only in that position. That option is the one being corrected. Watch for similar-sounding pairs such as employees/employers.