Sentence stress: Which words to emphasize

What is sentence stress?

Sentence stress is the pattern of emphasizing certain words in a sentence while saying others more softly. In English, stressed words are louder, longer, and clearer, while unstressed words are weaker and spoken more quickly. Correct use of sentence stress makes speech more natural and easier to understand.

What words are stressed?

In general, content words are stressed, while function words are not.

Content words (stressed)

These words carry the main meaning of a sentence:

  • Nouns (dog, house, idea)

  • Main verbs (run, speak, think)

  • Adjectives (beautiful, happy, tall)

  • Adverbs (quickly, always, well)

  • Question words (who, what, where, when, why, how)

Function words (unstressed)

These words help connect the sentence but do not carry the main meaning:

  • Articles (a, an, the)

  • Pronouns (he, she, they, it)

  • Prepositions (in, on, at, by)

  • Auxiliary verbs (is, are, was, were, have, do, can, should, will)

  • Conjunctions (and, but, or, so)

Practical examples

Example 1: Basic sentence

  • Sentence: She wants to buy a new car.

  • Stressed words: wants, buy, new, car

  • Unstressed words: she, to, a

  • How to say it: She WANTS to BUY a NEW CAR.

Example 2: Question

  • Sentence: Where did you put my phone?

  • Stressed words: where, put, phone

  • Unstressed words: did, you, my

  • How to say it: WHERE did you PUT my PHONE?

Example 3: Emphasis changes meaning

Sometimes, changing sentence stress changes the focus of the sentence.

  • He didn’t steal the money. (Someone else did.)

  • He didn’t STEAL the money. (He took it, but not by stealing.)

  • He didn’t steal the MONEY. (He stole something else.)

Tips for improving sentence stress

  1. Listen to native speakers – Pay attention to which words they stress.

  2. Practice with recordings – Record yourself speaking and compare it to native pronunciation.

  3. Use stress marks – Underline or highlight stressed words when reading a sentence aloud.

  4. Exaggerate the stress – Practice making stressed words louder and clearer.

  5. Speak in rhythm – Think of English as having a natural rhythm, like a song or poem.

Mastering sentence stress will help you sound more natural and make your English easier to understand. Keep practicing, and soon it will become natural for you!

Comments

Post a Comment