| Phrasal Stress
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Phrasal Stress is an important part of the rhythm of English. It is a term that refers to the most stressed word in each phrase (thought group) in a sentence. Each sentence that has more than one phrase in it has its most stressed word in the last phrase. This is generally called sentence stress. When we give that word the most stress, we are not only showing that this word is important, but also that the sentence is ending. We use sentence-final intonation patterns with sentence stress. If we emphasize another word in the sentence, however, this may change the phrasal or sentence stress. |
Click on the 
to hear an example.
When we read a sentence normally (without giving any word
extra emphasis),
each thought group (phrase) in a sentence has one word that is most
stressed. This word is the last content
word
in that phrase. The last content word in the last phrase of
the
sentence is said to be the most stressed in the sentence.
The noisy car / has been parked
/ in the garAGE.
Many people / often read
/ the business section
/ of the NEWSpaper.
("business section" and "newspaper" are compound
nouns.)
The noisy car has been parked in the garAGE.
Many people often read the business section of the NEWSpaper.
The more slowly you
speak, and the more pauses you use, the easier
it is to understand you and to hear the important elements of your
sentences.
In this book review from NPR's All Things
Considered,
you can hear sentences broken into thought groups and the phrasal
stress
used in the last content word of each thought group. Listen
to it twice
or more. The first time, don't listen to the content;
listen
only to the language. Listen especially
to the end-of-sentence intonation and hear the strongest stress close
to the end of each sentence. The following times, listen to
the content, because it might be an interesting book! When
Mountains Walked -- Alan Cheuse reviews a new book from Where is the strongest stress? (Click
on the correct word.) The computer is used in conjunction
with the textbook.
Please put the glass on top of the table. Why don't you want to go with them? In these longer sentences, the
most-stressed word in each phrase (the
last content word) comes just before the speaker's pause between
phrases. Which words are stressed? Remember to
listen for a raise in pitch and
a longer and louder sound. (Click on the correct
words in each sentence.) The author has created a wonderful program which emphasizes the worth of
reading to children.
Everyday,people from all over the world,eat dinnerwith their families. There will be another delay with the airline, I'm sorry to say. The assistant will be available to help you in any way
he can,
so
if you need
anything,
please call
him.
Poetry Readings
If you want something a little different. Listen for word stress, thought groups, and intonation. Sometimes you may even get to hear some alliteration (same sounds repeated for an interesting poetic effect).National Public Radio Programs
There are a variety of different kinds of programs here: news, commentary, true stories, etc.AUE: The Audio Archive - Here are different passages with text that you can hear in different accents.
Stressing words and sentences (from English club)
Stress (R. Williams) -- word and sentence stress information and quizzes from different sources