Word & Sentence Stress - Pronunciation

Word Stress

When a word has more than two syllables in English, one syllable will receive more importance than the others when it is pronounced. This is the syllable that receives the primary word stress. This means that, compared to the other ones, the vowel sound of that syllable will be slightly:

• louder,
• longer,
• at a higher pitch.

For example, the word chapter is stressed on the first syllable. The first syllable, chap-, will be louder and slightly longer than the last syllable -ter.

Sentence Stress

Words in a sentence are not all given the same stress in oral English. Some words are picked out and are stressed in contrast to others. The one that is the most stressed is said to receive the sentence stress. This usually implies differences in meaning. In the following sentences, the sentence stress is indicated in bold case. Consider the difference in meaning for each of these scenarios.

Sentences	Meaning
1. I don’t think she would write it.	I don’t think that, but someone else does.
2. I DON’T think she will listen to him.	It is not true that I think that.
3. I don’t THINK she will listen to him.	I don’t think that, I know that. Or: I don’t think that, but I could be wrong.
4. I don’t think SHE will listen to him.	I think that someone other than her will listen to him.
5. I don’t think she WILL listen to him.	I think that she will not be willing or agreeable to listening to him.
6. I don’t think she will LISTEN to him.	Instead of listening, she might talk to him.
7. I don’t think she will listen to HIM.	I think that she will listen to someone else than him.

Sentence Stress Rule

Usually:

• Content words are stressed (words that still have some meaning if you put them out of context: nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs.)
• Grammatical words are not stressed (words that help structure a sentence in English but that do not really have some meaning if you put them out of context: a, an, the, is, etc.)
  But, as in the examples above, even grammatical words can be stressed in some specific contexts.

Bibliography

Jonathan Pierrel. Sentence Stress - Word Stress Rules. 2016, https://www.wordstress.info/word-stress/sentence-stress/.

http://uk2.hotpotatoes.net/ex/61855/YCVLJEJT.php

PRONUNCIATION

Matching exercise

Match the items on the right to the items on the left.

In the sentence "I don´t think he will phone you tomorrow, so you should call him" , what does it mean if we stress "phone"?	??? Personal opinion Only you should phone him I am completely sure about what I said Another person could phone you It is not true that I think that You should phone that person He could do another thing The advice turns into a must He could phone another person He could phone another day
In the sentence "I don´t think he will phone you tomorrow, so you should call him" , what does it mean if we stress "tomorrow"?	??? Personal opinion Only you should phone him I am completely sure about what I said Another person could phone you It is not true that I think that You should phone that person He could do another thing The advice turns into a must He could phone another person He could phone another day
In the sentence "I don´t think he will phone you tomorrow, so you shoul call him" , what does it mean if we stress "I"?	??? Personal opinion Only you should phone him I am completely sure about what I said Another person could phone you It is not true that I think that You should phone that person He could do another thing The advice turns into a must He could phone another person He could phone another day
In the sentence "I don´t think he will phone you tomorrow, so you should call him" , what does it mean if we stress "he"?	??? Personal opinion Only you should phone him I am completely sure about what I said Another person could phone you It is not true that I think that You should phone that person He could do another thing The advice turns into a must He could phone another person He could phone another day
In the sentence "I don´t think he will phone you tomorrow, so you should call him" , what does it mean if we stress "you" (the first one)?	??? Personal opinion Only you should phone him I am completely sure about what I said Another person could phone you It is not true that I think that You should phone that person He could do another thing The advice turns into a must He could phone another person He could phone another day
In the sentence "I don´t think he will phone you tomorrow, so you should call him" , what does it mean if we stress "should"?	??? Personal opinion Only you should phone him I am completely sure about what I said Another person could phone you It is not true that I think that You should phone that person He could do another thing The advice turns into a must He could phone another person He could phone another day
In the sentence "I don´t think he will phone you tomorrow, so you should call him" , what does it mean if we stress "think"?	??? Personal opinion Only you should phone him I am completely sure about what I said Another person could phone you It is not true that I think that You should phone that person He could do another thing The advice turns into a must He could phone another person He could phone another day
In the sentence "I don´t think he will phone you tomorrow, so you should call him" , what does it mean if we stress "him"?	??? Personal opinion Only you should phone him I am completely sure about what I said Another person could phone you It is not true that I think that You should phone that person He could do another thing The advice turns into a must He could phone another person He could phone another day
In the sentence "I don´t think he will phone you tomorrow, so you should call him" , what does it mean if we stress "you" (second you)?	??? Personal opinion Only you should phone him I am completely sure about what I said Another person could phone you It is not true that I think that You should phone that person He could do another thing The advice turns into a must He could phone another person He could phone another day
In the sentence "I don´t think he will phone you tomorrow, so you should call him" , what does it mean if we stress "don´t"?	??? Personal opinion Only you should phone him I am completely sure about what I said Another person could phone you It is not true that I think that You should phone that person He could do another thing The advice turns into a must He could phone another person He could phone another day