Sentence Stress & Focus

Word stress was about one syllable inside a word. Sentence stress is the same idea scaled up: a handful of words carry the meaning, and everything else shrinks out of the way — fast, small, unstressed.

Instructor Saroar Hossain Duration 90 minutes Series British English Pronunciation Masterclass

Content vs. Grammar Weak Forms The Rhythm Line Practice

VOICE

Content Words vs. Grammar Words

Every sentence has two kinds of words. Content words — nouns, main verbs, adjectives, adverbs — carry the meaning and get stressed. Grammar words — articles, prepositions, pronouns, auxiliaries — hold the sentence together, and stay small and fast.

Large, bold — content word, stressedSmall, grey — grammar word, unstressed

Weak Forms

Grammar words have two pronunciations: a full "strong form" said in isolation, and a reduced "weak form" used in fast, connected speech — usually collapsing the vowel to a schwa. Native speakers default to the weak form almost always.

The Rhythm Line

Stress-timed rhythm: however many grammar words sit between them, the content words fall at roughly even intervals — like a drumbeat.

"I want to go to the shop"

Three content words — WANT, GO, SHOP — carry the beat. Everything else (I, to, to, the) rushes past in the gaps, reduced to weak forms.

Practice

Is the capitalized word a content word or a grammar word? Ten questions.

Lesson 5: Sentence Stress & Focus

Passage Text