Once the intonation of new information is established, you'll soon
notice that there is a pattern that breaks that flow. When you want to
emphasize one thing over another, you reflect this contrast with pitch
change. Notice how the intonation indicates contrast. Click on the
button to hear.
Bob
studies English.
Bob
studies English, but he doesn't use it.
If a person consistently stresses "contrast words" as opposed to "new
information words", he can end up sounding permanently argumentative:
I
said it is good.
He
doesn't like it.
Where are you going?
Additionally, mixed messages occur when modals or verbs of perception
are stressed -- you end up with the opposite meaning!
People should exercise more, but . . .
They would help us, if . . .
It looks like Chanel, but at that price, it's a
knock-off.
He seems like a nice guy, but once you get to know
him...
1. In a normal sentence, new information is stressed.
True
False
2. Words that contrast each other are stressed.
True
False
3. Stressing different words in a sentence does not change the
meaning of the sentence.
True
False
4. If I want to show that something appears a certain way
(but is not really that way,) I would stress the verb of
perception. For example:
It smells like a flower, but it's perfume.
True
False
5. If a person was very confident, on which word would we put the
stress?
