Connected Speech: Prominence & Focus (What do you stress?)

Learn prominence: English highlights meaning by stressing focus words and reducing everything else.

advanced

When to Use

•When you want to correct someone or show contrast.
•When you want to sound natural in conversation (not reading each word).
•When you want to understand why some words sound 'missing' in fast speech.

How to Form

Affirmative (+)

Choose a focus word (new/important information) and give it the strongest stress in the phrase.

Negative (-)

Avoid stressing multiple focus words unless you truly want multiple points of emphasis.

Question (?)

What is new/contrastive information? Stress that; reduce other words.

💡 Prominence is created by stress, pitch movement, and length. It shapes connected speech because non-focus words reduce more. British vs US note: the focus system is shared, but pitch range and typical intonation contours can differ by variety and speaker style.

Examples

✓I said TEN, not TWO.

Contrastive focus changes meaning and guides the listener.

✓I wanted the BLUE one. (not the red one)

Focus is placed on the contrasting word.

✓She DID call you. (correcting a belief)

Auxiliaries can be stressed when they are the focus.

Common Mistakes

💡 Practice Tips

• Say the same sentence with different focus words and notice meaning changes.
• Practice correction patterns: 'I said X, not Y.'
• Record yourself and check if the focus word is clearly strongest.

sentence-stress intonation-questions

Connected Speech: Prominence & Focus (What do you stress?)

Learn prominence: English highlights meaning by stressing focus words and reducing everything else.

advanced

When to Use

•When you want to correct someone or show contrast.
•When you want to sound natural in conversation (not reading each word).
•When you want to understand why some words sound 'missing' in fast speech.

How to Form

Affirmative (+)

Choose a focus word (new/important information) and give it the strongest stress in the phrase.

Negative (-)

Avoid stressing multiple focus words unless you truly want multiple points of emphasis.

Question (?)

What is new/contrastive information? Stress that; reduce other words.

Examples

✓I said TEN, not TWO.

Contrastive focus changes meaning and guides the listener.

✓I wanted the BLUE one. (not the red one)

Focus is placed on the contrasting word.

✓She DID call you. (correcting a belief)

Auxiliaries can be stressed when they are the focus.

Common Mistakes

💡 Practice Tips

• Say the same sentence with different focus words and notice meaning changes.
• Practice correction patterns: 'I said X, not Y.'
• Record yourself and check if the focus word is clearly strongest.

sentence-stress intonation-questions

Connected Speech: Prominence & Focus (What do you stress?)

When to Use

How to Form

Examples

Common Mistakes

💡 Practice Tips

Related

Connected Speech: Prominence & Focus (What do you stress?)

When to Use

How to Form

Examples

Common Mistakes

💡 Practice Tips

Related

When to Use

How to Form

Examples

Common Mistakes

✗Stressing every content word strongly

✗Keeping the same stress pattern regardless of meaning

💡 Practice Tips

Related

When to Use

How to Form

Examples

Common Mistakes

✗Stressing every content word strongly

✗Keeping the same stress pattern regardless of meaning

💡 Practice Tips

Related