Speaking: Pronunciation B1 - Lesson 4
Sentence Stress for Emphasis
By the end of this lesson, you will understand how to change the stress in a sentence to add emphasis and change the implied meaning.
Changing Meaning with Stress
In our last lesson, we learned about standard sentence stress1 (stressing content words). But what if we want to give special importance to a specific word? We can do this by changing the stress. This is called using stress for emphasis2.
Look at how the meaning of one sentence can change completely just by stressing a different word. The stressed word is in CAPITALS.
| Sentence | Implied Meaning4 (What it really means) |
|---|---|
| I didn't steal your red car. | Someone else stole it, not me. |
| I DIDN'T steal your red car. | I am strongly denying the action. It's not true. |
| I didn't STEAL your red car. | I did something else with it (maybe I borrowed it). |
| I didn't steal YOUR red car. | I stole a different person's red car. |
| I didn't steal your RED car. | I stole your car of a different color (e.g., your blue one). |
| I didn't steal your red CAR. | I stole something else that was red (e.g., your red moto). |
Key Pronunciation Terms
- Sentence Stress: The pattern of stressed and unstressed words in a sentence: ការសង្កត់សំឡេងក្នុងប្រយោគ ↩
- Emphasis: Special importance or stress given to a word to show it is important: ការសង្កត់ធ្ងន់ ↩
- Contrast: A clear difference between two things: ភាពផ្ទុយគ្នា ↩
- Implied Meaning: An idea that is suggested by your tone of voice, but not said directly: អត្ថន័យបញ្ឆិតបញ្ឆៀង ↩
Pronunciation Focus: How to Emphasize a Word
When you stress a word for emphasis, you make it different from the other words in the sentence. You can do this in three ways at the same time:
- Make it LOUDER: Increase the volume on the stressed word.
- Make it LONGER: Stretch the vowel sound of the stressed word.
- Make the PITCH HIGHER: Make your voice go up on the stressed word.
Listen to the audio guide. You will hear how the stressed word is louder, longer, and higher in pitch than the other words.
Common Reasons to Change Stress
We change stress for many reasons, but here are three very common ones.
1. To Correct Information
When someone says something wrong, you stress the correct information.
Example: A: "Is the meeting on Tuesday?" B: "No, the meeting is on WEDNESDAY."
2. To Show Contrast3
When you compare two different things, you stress both of them.
Example: "I don't speak JAPANESE, but I do speak CHINESE."
3. To Emphasize an Opinion
When you want to show a strong feeling, you stress the emotional or important word.
Example: "Wow, that movie was AMAZING!"
Practice Your Emphasis
Activity 1: What's the Implied Meaning?
Listen to the audio guide. I will say the sentence "She didn't buy a cheap phone" two times with different stress. Choose the correct implied meaning for each.
- Sentence 1: "SHE didn't buy a cheap phone." -> Implied meaning: (Someone else bought it.)
- Sentence 2: "She didn't buy a CHEAP phone." -> Implied meaning: (She bought an expensive phone.)
Activity 2: Stress the Correction
Read the mini-dialogues. Which word should Speaker B stress to make the correction clear?
- A: Is your car blue?
B: No, my car is RED. - A: So, you'll see him at 8 o'clock.
B: No, I'll see him at 9 o'clock.
Your Pronunciation Mission
This week in Siem Reap, your mission is to practice using stress for emphasis.
Practice saying this sentence aloud five times: "My brother bought a new moto yesterday." Each time, stress a DIFFERENT word (My, brother, bought, new, moto, yesterday). Think about how the implied meaning changes each time. Try it with a friend and see if they can understand your new meaning.