Individual words have a stress pattern, that is a pattern of strongand weak syllables. Sentences also have a stress pattern, and this issentence stress. Sometimes a word and a sentence have the same stresspattern. Listen to these examples.
Short sentences and phrases in English have some typical stress patterns. Listen to the examples.
OoOWhat's the time?Yes, of course! Thanks a lot! OoOoSee you later! Pleased to meet you! Саn't you hear me? oOoOA piece of cake. The shop was closed. It's time to go. OooOWhat do you do? Where do you live? Give me a call. ooOo Are you coming? Do you like it? Is he happy?
There is normally a space between stressed syllables in a sentence.Unstressed syllables can be put in that space. The space stays more orless the same length whether one or more unstressed syllables arepushed into it. So for example, these three sentences take about thesame length of time to say. Listen.
OOO Don't tell Mike. OoOoOo Go and speak to Mary. OooOooOoo Hurry and give it to Jonathan.
Stress patterns can help you hear the difference between similar sentences. For example, verbs with the negative ending -n't are always stressed. This helps us to hear the difference between can and can't in the following two sentences, because the two sentences have different stress patterns.
ooOHe can talk.
oOOHe can't talk.
Note: You can find more about sentence stress in Units 32 to 40.
Write these sentences in the correct column. Then listen, check and repeat. Key.
The bus was late Come and look. Close the window. What do you want? The water's cold. Give me a call. What did she say? Phone and tell me. Nice to see you. Where's the car? It's cold and wee. What's the time?