Sentence Stress in English

Sentence stress is the music of spoken English. Like word stress, sentence
stress can help you to understand spoken English, especially when spoken
fast.

Sentence stress is what gives English its rhythm or "beat". You remember
that word stress is accent on one syllable within a word. Sentence stress is
accent on certain words within asentence.

Most sentences have two types of word:

 content words
 structure words

Content words are the key words of a sentence. They are the important
words that carry the meaning or sense.

Structure words are not very important words. They are small, simple words
that make the sentence correct grammatically. They give the sentence its
correct form or "structure".

If you remove the structure words from a sentence, you will probably still
understand the sentence.

If you remove the content words from a sentence, you will not understand
the sentence. The sentence has no sense or meaning.

Imagine that you receive this telegram message:

FRANCE to GON I've becaus CAR my SEL you Wil

E e L l

This sentence is not complete. It is not a "grammatically correct" sentence.

But you probably understand it. These 4 words communicate very
well. Somebody wants you to sell their carfor them because they
have gone to France. We can add a few words:

FRANCE to GON I've becaus CAR my SEL you Wil

E e L l

The new words do not really add any more information. But they make the
message more correct grammatically. We can add even more words to make
one complete, grammatically correct sentence. But the information is
basically the same:

Content Words

FRANCE. to GONE I've because CAR my SEL you Will

L

Structure Words

In our sentence, the 4 key words (sell, car, gone, France) are accentuated
or stressed.
Why is this important for pronunciation? It is important because it adds
"music" to the language. It is the rhythm of the English language. It
changes the speed at which we speak (and listen to) the language. The time
between each stressed word is the same.

In our sentence, there is 1 syllable between SELL and CAR and 3

syllables between CAR and GONE. But the time (t) between SELL and CAR
and between CAR and GONE is the same. We maintain a constant beat on
the stressed words. To do this, we say "my" more slowly, and "because
I've" more quickly. We change the speed of the small structure words so
that the rhythm of the key content words stays the same.

syllables

1 3 1 2

FRANCE. to GONE I've because CAR my SEL you Will

L
Beat beat beat beat

t1 t1 t1 t1
Rules for Sentence Stress in English
The basic rules of sentence stress are:

1. content words are stressed

2. structure words are unstressed
3. the time between stressed words is always the same

The following tables can help you decide which words are content words and
which words arestructure words:

Content words - stressed

Example Words carrying the meaning

SELL, GIVE, EMPLOY main verbs

CAR, MUSIC, MARY Nouns

RED, BIG, INTERESTING adjectives

QUICKLY, LOUDLY, NEVER adverbs

DON'T, AREN'T, CAN'T negative auxiliaries

Structure words - unstressed

Example Words for correct grammar

he, we, they pronouns

on, at, into prepositions

a, an, the Articles

and, but, because Conjunctions

do, be, have, can, must auxiliary verbs

Exceptions

The above rules are for for what is called "neutral" or normal stress. But
sometimes we can stress a word that would normally be only a structure word,
for example to correct information. Look at the following dialogue:

"They've been to Mongolia, haven't they?"

"No, THEY haven't, but WE have.
Note also that when "be" is used as a main verb, it is usually unstressed (even
though in this case it is a content word).

When you are speaking English the words you stress can
change the underlying meaning of a sentence. Let's take a look
at the following sentence:

I don't think he should get the job.

This simple sentence can have many levels of meaning based on the word you stress.
Consider the meaning of the following sentences with the stressed word in bold. Read
each sentence aloud and give a strong stress to the word in bold:

I don't think he should get the job.

Meaning: Somebody else thinks he should get the job.

I don't think he should get the job.

Meaning: It's not true that I think he should get the job.

I don't think he should get that job.

Meaning: That's not really what I mean. OR I'm not sure he'll get that job.

I don't think he should get that job.

Meaning: Somebody else should get that job.

I don't think he should get that job.

Meaning: In my opinion it's wrong that he's going to get that job.

I don't think he should get that job.

Meaning: He should have to earn (be worthy of, work hard for) that job.

I don't think he should get that job.

Meaning: He should get another job.

I don't think he should get that job.

Meaning: Maybe he should get something else instead.

As you can see, there are many different ways this sentence can be understood. The
important point to remember is that the true meaning of the sentence is also expressed
through the stressed word or words.
Here is an exercise to help you develop the art of correct word stress. Take the
following sentence:

I said she might consider a new haircut.

Say the sentence aloud using the stress word marked in bold. Once you have spoken
the sentence a few times, match the sentence version to the meaning below.
1. I said she might consider a new haircut.
2. I said she might consider a new haircut.
3. I said she might consider a new haircut.
4. I said she might consider a new haircut.
5. I said she might consider a new haircut.
6. I said she might consider a new haircut.
7. I said she might consider a new haircut.
 Not just a haircut.
 It's a possibility.
 It was my idea.
 Not something else.
 Don't you understand me?
 Not another person.
 She should think about it. it's a good idea.

Exercise: Write out a number of sentences. Read each of them stressing a different
word each time you read them. Notice how the meaning changes depending on which
word you stress. Don't be afraid to exaggerate the stress, in English we often use this
device to add meaning to a sentence. It's very possible that when you think you are
exaggerating, it will sound quite natural to native speakers.
Answers to the word stress exercise:
1. I said she might consider a new haircut.
It was my idea.
2. I said she might consider a new haircut.
Don't you understand me?
3. I said she might consider a new haircut.
Not another person.
4. I said she might consider a new haircut.
It's a possibility.
5. I said she might consider a new haircut.
She should think about it. it's a good idea.
6. I said she might consider a new haircut.
Not just a haircut.
7. I said she might consider a new haircut.
Not something else.