Word Stress and Verbs American English Pronunciation
In this American English pronunciation video,
we’re going to go over the topic of word and verbs.
If you’ve already seen my video on an introduction
to word stress, and my video on content words,
then you know that main verbs will be stressed
in a sentence. Today we’re going to look at
some sentences and see what this actually
means, to be stressed. In the sentence, “I’m
leaving soon,” what do you notice about the
pitch? I’m leaving soon. If you’re not sure
what you’re hearing, here’s a visual. I’m
leaving soon. The blue line is the pitch.
You can see the shape of the stress in the
word ‘leaving’. Up then down" leaving [3x].
So the voice goes up in pitch, and then down.
That is the shape of stress. I’m leaving soon.
So, that will be the shape of main verbs when
you’re speaking, because main verbs are content
words, and content words are stressed. Let’s
look at some more sentences. She’s taking
the bus. She’s taking the bus. Taking. She’s
taking the bus. The up and down of the voice
is not as dramatic here as it was in the first
example. But you can still clearly see this
little curve. That gliding up and down motion
is the shape of stress. Taking. [3x]
We’re running late. [4x]
Here again, the change in pitch, up and down, is
not so big. But it is unmistakable. Running. [2x]
I passed the test. [4x]
Again, you see the glide up and glide down,
curve of the voice on the stressed syllable,
passed. Passed. [3x]
It’s important that you don’t rush through
content words. Give them enough time to have
this shape of up and down. This up/down shape
is in contrast to function words, which will
be flatter, lower in pitch, and also quicker.
This contrast is what makes American English
easy to understand to American ears. So, correct
American English pronunciation depends on
it. To work on this, take any text. First,
pull out the verb and work on it on its own:
work, work. Then speed it up, maintaining
the shape, and put it back into the sentence,
again, making sure that you have this up/down
shape, to make sure you’re stressing the word.
Never go through the word so quickly that
you’re giving up the shape. Now that you know
that main verbs should be stressed, and how
to stress them, go out and do just that.
That’s it, and thanks so much
for using Rachel’s English.
Don’t stop there. Have fun with my real-life
English videos. Or get more comfortable with
the IPA in this play list. Learn about the online
courses I offer, or check out my latest video.