Master English Stress and Intonation for Contrast and Emphasis

Let me tell you just a little bit about how I got started on YouTube.

Listen closely because I'm going to quiz you later.

I started my channel in the summer of 2007.

It was my husband's idea to check out YouTube.

I filmed my first vocabulary lesson outside in the backyard.

It was a lesson about the outdoors.

Can you recall the details I just shared? Let's see.

Sometimes we need to clarify or correct information.

We use stress and intonation to do that. This will be the focus of our lesson.

Let's practice stress and intonation for emphasis and contrast.

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When we stress a word, three things can happen.

The stressed syllable is said a bit louder and at a higher pitch

The stressed vowel sound in that syllable is longer compared to the unstressed vowel sounds around it.

Not the beginning of 2007. The summer of 2007.

Not my brother. My husband.

Not a park. My backyard.

Not sports. The outdoors.

When we clarify information, we often state what's wrong first and then state the correct facts.

This results in at least two different thought groups or intonation groups. There's a pause in between.

Each intonation group or thought group has its own focus word.

We don't necessarily have to state the incorrect information,

but a common pattern in English is to give old information first and then give new information.

That's why the focus word is usually the final content word in a sentence.

So to summarize...

Now you try using stress and intonation for contrast and emphasis.

I'll ask a question.

Follow my prompts to respond and correct my misunderstanding.

Remember to stress those focus words.

Do U.S. schools teach that there are six continents?

One possible answer is...

Is it okay to use miss when you address an older woman?

So one possible answer is...

Do many Americans eat dinner at eight or nine p.m.?

One possible answer is...

Do Americans usually talk openly about how much money they make?

One possible answer is...

The donkey symbolizes the Republican party and the elephant symbolizes the Democratic party, right?

One possible answer is...

Do you feel confident using stress and intonation for emphasis and contrast?

Try this last exercise.

Listen to each sentence and pay close attention to the focus word.

Choose the right response.

I took two years of Japanese in college.

I took two years of Japanese in college.

I took two years of Japanese in college.

Hopefully, you feel more confident now than you did before when it comes to using stress and intonation

for emphasis and contrast.

That's all for now. Thanks for watching and happy studies.