Thought Groups and Focus Words

When sentences are longer, they are divided into “thought groups.” Thought groups are words that naturally belong together as a grammatical unit. We instinctively pause between thought groups, although the pause is not as long as when there’s a comma or a period.

Here is an example of a sentence that is divided into two different thought groups:

“I like bacon and eggs ///early in the morning.” It’s natural to divide this sentence, and it sounds better than if you had said: “I like bacon and eggs early in the morning,” without pausing.

Within each thought group there is always one word that gets the most stress. That stressed word is called a “focus word.” The focus word is the word that carries the key information of the thought group. It’s usually the last content word within the thought group. For example, in the example sentence above, eggs and morning are the focus words.

There is some variation between different speakers regarding how often to pause within a longer sentence. People who speak quickly tend to pause less and their sentences have fewer thought groups.

Practice Sentences

Practice stressing the focus words and pausing between the thought groups.

1. I want to talk to you // about something important.
2. If you give me your email address,*// I will send you the information.
3. Every time I stop by his office, // he’s too busy to talk to me.
4. I wonder how long // it will take me //to learn to speak English like you.
5. What did you think of the new restaurant // that we went to last night?
6. He has been looking for a new job // for a long time now // but he just hasn’t found anything // that he really likes.

(*Email address is a compound noun, so we stress the first word.)

Practice Conversations: Telephone Messages

Practice these voicemail messages using correct word stress. The focus word of each thought group is in bold letters. The thought groups are divided by slashes.

A. Phone Tag

Mary’s Answering Machine: Hi, this is Mary. I am sorry // I missed your call. Please leave a message // after the beep, and I’ll call you back // as soon as I can.

Mike: Hi Mary, this is Mike. It’s been a while // since we last spoke. I hope you’re doing well. I’m calling to see // if you’re free tomorrow. I am going hiking // with some friends// and I wanted to see // if you’d like to join us. It would be great to see you. Give me a call // and let me know // if you’re available.

Mary: Hi Mike, this is Mary, returning your call. It was great to hear from you. Sorry that we keep missing each other. Yeah, I’d love to go hiking with you. Let me know // what time you’re thinking of going. I’m looking forward to it. I should be home tonight // after seven, so call me // and let me know // where we should meet.

B. Sales Call

Note that individual speaking style or some circumstances can determine the number of thought groups there are in a sentence. For example, the following speech has fewer thought groups because the speaker is a salesman who needs to deliver his message quickly.

Good afternoon, Mr. Johnson. This is Bill Jones calling. I would like to tell you about the new product // our company is selling. I believe // it will greatly benefit your organization. We recently conducted a study // on how your customer’s needs are changing. We are able to help you run your business more efficiently // and at the same time, save you money. I think that people in your firm // would be very interested in our services. I’d like to set up a time to talk with you // about how our company can help you. I can assure you // that it will be worth your while. When would be a good time // for us to meet?