Sentence stress practice 2016 OCt 7

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Hi,

Am I using sentence stress correctly in the following sentences?

[color=blue]1. What brings you here today?

  1. They got off on the wrong foot.

  2. Would you like a cup of coffee?

I am trying to practice the way the following document shows.
media.wix.com/ugd/e225f1_0a95724 … 420375.pdf

Thanks.

2

The linked document explains that the intonation of stressed words can change dependent on a number of factors:
“Note that the stressed words may vary depending on how you interpret thesentences. The indicated stressed words are only one interpretation.”

So for example, this, though very different, is equally correct:

  1. What brings you here today? (If the person being spoken to would not normally be expected to be there.)

  2. They got off on the wrong foot. (Possibly they are now good friends)

  3. Would you like a cup of coffee? (as opposed to a mug of coffee).

Those are rather extreme examples, but they indicate the point that there is no necessarily right or wrong way to stress something. It depends on far more than just what is being said.

You might need:
What brings you here today? (emphasis on purpose)
What brings you here today? (emphasis on person)
What brings you here today? (emphasis on place)
What brings you here today? (emphasis on time)

I would say that the short sentences you’ve used would generally probably only require one word to be stressed in each of them. (e.g. with no additional information, I would emphasise ‘you’ ‘off’ and ‘coffee’.)

3

Hi Musicgold,

Good to hear from you again. You can stress any word in any sentence you like. The whole point of ‘stressing’ a word is to highlight it/emphasise it because you want your listener to pay particular attention to that word.

Alan

4

Thanks Beeesneees.

Yes, I do get that word stress changes depending on the context. Here I am looking for normal stress, as in when someone says the sentence normally or first and not as a response.

For example, in the case of #1, you run into a friend in a business district and you want to know what they are doing at that place.

5

Possibly you missed this line, which answers that question, Musicgold, though I must emphasise this is just my personal interpretation.

6

Got it. Thanks.

Hi Alan,
Thank you.