ORATORY

Emphasis in Pronunciation
1. Some words in a sentence is emphasised when you pronounce to help the
listener better understand you.
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
VII.

John will walk to the restaurant tonight.

John will walk to the restaurant tonight.
John will walk to the restaurant tonight.
John will walk to the restaurant tonight.
John will walk to the restaurant tonight.
John will walk to the restaurant tonight.
John will walk to the restaurant tonight.

2. Syllables
- Desribes how many sounds there are in a word.
Exercise 1
How many syllables are there in the following?
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)

wkquay@gmail.com

apple
banana
chair
doctor
lunch
dinosaur

g)
h)
i)
j)
k)
l)

triangle
twelve
laptop
plastic
computer
work out

m)
n)
o)
p)
q)
r)

put up with
not at all
employment
implementation
interesting
comfortable

ORA/2014/03

s)
t)
u) Exercise 2
v) Identify and read aloud the emphasis in the folowing sentences.
w)
1. It drives me crazy!
2. Someone stole my wallet last night.
3. But I lost my credit card and my drivers license.
4. It really upsets me when taxi drivers drive so fast.
5. That doesnt really bother me.
6. Hmm. That reminds me of when I had my purse stolen last year.
7. Ted, I wonder if youd mind lending me your camera on Saturday. Im going to
a wedding.
8. The Hollywood Police Department has decided to drop charges against the thief
for saving the officers lives.
9. I think its because they want to show that theyre really enjoying their food so
they make a loudslurping noise.
10. The problem is that in many countries the landfills have already been filled up,
and its hard to find places to start new ones.
x) Exercise 3
y) Identify and read aloud the emphasis in the folowing sentences.
z)
aa) 1. Exactly.
ab) 2. It sounds exhausting.
ac) 3. Well, it was a course on vegetarian cooking.
ad) 4. You certainly sound very confident.
ae) 5. Well, one thing to do about it is to talk to the management.
af) 6. I guess I learned how to communicate with people when I was a flight
attendant.
ag) 7. We want to show children how the oceans are being polluted by industrial
waste.
ah) 8. Living in another country can create barriers to communication that
are limiting in some ways andliberating in others.
ai) 9. Of course, we all read books in America, too, but precisely because of the
other distractions, its often hard to stick with them.
aj) 10. I think the key to being a good conversationalist is to be sincerely interested
in other people and to try to get them to talk about themselves as much as
possible.
ak)
al)
am)
an) Some confusing sounds:
ao)
1. Tapping t and glotal t
- water
- butter

button
beating
pity
pick it up
ap)
2. Glotal t
- get
- getting
- what
- water
- fountain
- mountain
- pick it up
aq)
ar)