Which Words Should I Stress?

Mastering the American Accent » Which Words Should I Stress?

Which Words Should I Stress?

Now that you have had a quick introduction to how words sound when they are stressed and reduced, let’s learn the rules of which words are stressed and which are reduced.

Content Words

“Content words” are the words that carry the most meaning. These words are usually nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and sometimes question words such as when, why, or where. If we removed the surrounding words and just spoke using content words, the general idea of what we were trying to say would still be understood. For example, imagine that you heard someone say: “Went store morning.” You would understand that they meant: “I went to the store in the morning.”

Also, content words are like key words that you would use when searching a topic on the internet. For example, you would only type: “SYMPTOMS, HEART ATTACK,” instead of “What are the symptoms of a heart attack?” Another good example of content words can be found in newspaper headlines. They would say: “Suspect arrested” instead of “A suspect has been arrested;”and “Neighbors complain” instead of “The neighbors have been complaining.”

As a general rule, the last content word of a phrase gets the most stress. So, in the sentence “A suspect has been arrested,” arrested will get the most stress. Similarly, we don’t say: “The neighborshave been complaining.” Instead, we stress the last content word and we say: “The neighbors have been complaining.”

Now let’s practice stressing content words and placing the most stress on the final content word.

Practice Sentences

Remember to stress the last content word in each sentence. Notice how the stress changes as more information is added to the end. The underlined word gets the most stress.

I like bacon.
I like bacon and eggs.
It’s black.
It’s black and white.
Do you want salt?
Do you want salt and pepper?
That’s good.
That’s a good idea.
It’s hot.
It’s a hot day.
I need it.
I need to go.
I need to go home.
I need to go home at five o’clock.
I saw him.
I saw the man.
I saw the man you told me about.*

*Note: me and about are not stressed because they are not content words.

He drove it.
He drove the car.
He drove the car he bought yesterday.
He drove the car that he bought from his friend.

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