Sentence Stress And Super Stress Word Stress Sentence

Sentence Stress And Super Stress

Word Stress & Sentence Stress l Guarantee l However l understand l Can you see? l Is he clever? l I’m in the band. Notice the similarity between word stress and sentence stress?

Word Stress & Sentence Stress l Guarantee l However l understand l Can you see? l Is he clever? l I’m in the band. Sentences have peaks and valleys just like words do. Some words are longer; others are shorter.

Just like stressed syllables, key words have the following features: l Longer l Louder l Higher l Clearer

Which words carry the meaning? Circle them Do you like the picture on your passport? l Did you take the test for a driver’s license yet? l The Students pay a lot of money for their books. l The painter is coming. l He’s planning to retire next year. l

Notice the pattern l l l Content words Nouns Main Verbs Adjectives Adverbs Question words l l l Function words Articles: the a an Prepositions The verb to be Auxiliary verbs: can, will, have, do Pronouns Conjunctions: and, but, so

Basic Rule Content words are stressed; Function words are reduced.

Use a rubberband to feel the difference Place it between your thumbs and pull on the key words

Be careful! English is stress timed, Not syllable timed

Stretch out content words, and squeeze in unstressed words l Bird eat worms l The birds eat the worms l The birds will have eaten the worms. l Read all sentences in the same amount of time.

Stretch and Squeeze Soup and salad, please l I’ll have soup and a salad, please. l I’ll have a bowl of soup and the Caesar salad, please. l Name? l What’s your name? l What’s your first name? l

Meeting? l When’s the meeting? l What time is the meeting? l What time will the meeting take place? l We need to visit the school’s teacher. l We need to visit our son’s school’s teacher tomorrow. l

Tips to save energy l Here are some tips to save energy l Use compact fluorescent light bulbs. l Turn off your computer and monitor when not in use. l Lower thermostat on your hot water heater to 1200 F. l Look for the Energy Star label on home appliances and products. l

Practice stretching and reducing with everyday phrases Also use easy reading material to practice.

Super Stress! l To help your listeners focus on what you’re saying, use Super Stress: extra emphasis that is even higher, louder, clearer, and l o n g e r than regular stress.

When to use Super Stress: Emphasize contrasts The meeting is today, not tomorrow l Transition words However, first, moreover, therefore l New Information First we’ll discuss energy. Then, we’ll look at ways to reduce energy use. l

Strong emotion I hate cold weather! l As necessary to express agreement, disagreement, misunderstanding, surprise or clarification. I agree! l

Use sheet music to plot your sentences l l Level 1= end of statements or wh/how questions Level 2 and 3 = normal speech Level 3 = phrasal stress and yes/no question endings Level 4 = super stress (emphasis)

Plot these sentences l What’s your name? l My name is Cara Fu. l Would you like some tea? l Yes, thank you. l How do you like the weather? l I love it!

Internalize the music And you’ll be indistinguishable from Americans!