Sentence stress

Eg. I could `hardly `believe my `eyes.
2. To serve as the basis for the rhythmical structure of the sentence. The rhythm of English speech is formed by the recurrence of stressed syllables at more or less regular intervals of time and the alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables.
prepositions articles
he, we, they, her, his, myself, each other, that
on, at, into a, an, the
conjunctions
Auxiliary and modal verbs
and, but, because
do, be, have, can, must


1. any word in a sentence may be logically stressed if it implies special emphasis or contrast.
Sentence stress I `bought a `new `book in the `bookstore `yesterday. I bought a new book in the bookstore yesterday I bought a new book in the bookstore yesterday I bought a new book in the bookstore yesterday I bought a new book in the bookstore yesterday I ought a new book in the bookstore yesterday



Most sentences have two types of word: content words structure words


Content words are the key words of a sentence. They are the important words that carry the meaning or sense. Structure words are not very important words. They are small, simple words that make the sentence correct grammatically. If you remove the structure words from a sentence, you will probably still understand the sentence.
Words carrying the meaning main verbs(实义动词、行为动词) nouns adjectives adverbs negative auxiliaries Example SELL, GIVE, EMPLOY CAR, MUSIC, MARY RED, BIG, INTERESTING QUICKLY, LOUDLY, NEVER DON'T, AREN'T, CAN'T
Sentence stress
From what we have learned last unit, you know that word stress is degree of intensity or loundness placed on one syllable within a word. Sentence stress is degree of intensity or loundness placed on certain words within a sentence.

Rules for Sentence Stress in English

The basic rules of sentence stress are: content words are stressed structure words are unstressed the time between stressed words is always the same
Examples:
We `heard `john `talking. (plain statement of the fact) We `heard john talking. (not see him ) We heard `john talking. (not Mary. etc) `We heard john talking. (not others) We heard john `talking. (not singing, etc)

Sentence stress is what gives English its rhythm or "beat".
Two main functions of sentence stress

1. to indicate the important words in the sentence (from the point of view of grammar, meaning or the speaker’s attitude).
Sentence stress refer to the stress that falls on certain word or words semantically （语义） important in a sentence.
英语中每一个词在孤立的情况下, 不论是实词还是 虚词, 都有词的重音, 即使是单音节词, 虽然本身 没有轻重的对比, 在孤立的情况下, 也是重读的。 但是在连贯言语中并不是每一词都保留自己的的词 重音。

Under the influence of the latter peculiarity of the rhythm of English speech, important words in meaning which are usually stressed may be pronounced without sentence stress. Eg. `Very `good. `not very `good.
more examples:
I `didn’t `know `you were leaving. What did Tony say to Sally? he `spoke to `me. I `can do the job. I know she has been working very hard. but `what does she `work `for?

Note

If you stress all the words in an utterance, you may sound unpleasant or even cause misunderstanding because
1. You are giving too much information, and 2. English speakers usually stress all words only when they are impatient or angry. 句子重读视频 5`44``

Definition of sentence stress

In connected speech we do not hear a stress on every word. Some words lose their stresses, especially when we talk quickly, other words keep their stress and these stressed syllables form what is called sentence stress
The importance of sentence stress

Sentence stress is the music of spoken English. Like word stress, sentence stress can help you to understand spoken English, especially when spoken fast.

note

A word which is logically stressed may stand at the beginning, in the middle or at the end of a sentence, and is usually the last stressed word in it. Sentence stress on words following logical stress disappears.
Words carrying the meaning numerals Demonstrative pronouns Interrogative pronouns Emphasizing pronouns the absolute form of the possessive pronouns
Example

I put your pen `in my desk. This is `my pen, this is `your pen.


2. some form words are stressed in certain special cases.