Lesson 2: Sentence Stress and Rhythm

🟦 Introduction

Have you ever listened to native English speakers and noticed that their speech sounds almost musical—like it has a beat or rhythm? That’s because English is a stress-timed language. Not every word is said with the same force or length. Some words are stressed and some are unstressed, creating rhythm.

In this lesson, you’ll learn:

• How sentence stress works in natural English speech

• Which words are usually stressed or unstressed

• How rhythm helps with listening comprehension and fluent speaking

• How sentence stress is tested in WASSCE oral exams

🟩 Key Concepts and Explanations

1. What is Sentence Stress?

Sentence stress is the pattern of stressed and unstressed words in a sentence. Some words are spoken with more emphasis (stress), while others are said more quickly and softly.

🔊 Example:
She ‘BOUGHT some ‘MILK at the ‘SHOP.
(Stressed words: bought, milk, shop)

2. Types of Words in Sentence Stress

🔍 Why? Content words carry the main meaning. Function words help with grammar.

3. English Rhythm: A Stress-Timed Language

English doesn’t stress every syllable equally. Instead, it keeps equal time between stresses, squeezing or stretching the unstressed syllables between them.

🔊 Try saying:

• “Cats ‘EAT ‘FISH.” (3 words, 2 stressed syllables)

• “The ‘CATS will ‘EAT the ‘FISH.” (6 words, still only 3 stressed)

Even though the second sentence has more words, it takes about the same time to say—that’s rhythm in action!

4. Shifting Stress for Emphasis

Sometimes, a word normally unstressed becomes stressed for emphasis or contrast:

Example:

• He gave the book to ME. (not to someone else)

• I DID finish my homework! (not lying)

This use of stress for contrast is also known as emphatic stress (covered more deeply in Lesson 3).

5. Sentence Stress and Listening Comprehension

In WASSCE listening tests, sentence stress helps you:

• Catch main ideas

• Identify emotions and intent

• Distinguish similar-sounding words or phrases

🧭 Sample Walkthrough

Sentence: “She went to the market and bought some oranges.”

Let’s break it down:

• Function words: she, to, the, and, some → unstressed

• Content words: went, market, bought, oranges → stressed

Now read it with rhythm:
“She WENT to the MARket and BOUGHT some ORanges.”

The sentence now flows more naturally and is easier to follow.

🟨 Practice Exercises

Exercise A: Identify the Stressed Words

Read each sentence and underline or bold the stressed words.

1. He is going to the bank after school.

2. They played football in the rain.

3. I didn’t see her at the concert.

✅ Answers:

1. He is going to the BANK after SCHOOL.

2. They played FOOTBALL in the RAIN.

3. I didn’t SEE HER at the CONCERT.

Exercise B: Fill in the Rhythm

Rewrite the sentence below, marking the stressed (‘) and unstressed (_) syllables.
Sentence: “The man is driving to work today.”

✅ Answer:
_ The MAN _ is DRIVing _ to WORK _ toDAY

Exercise C: Listening Tip Practice (optional if audio used)

If you’re listening to a dialogue or narrative and only understand some words, focus on:

• Content words: They tell the story.

• Ignore filler/function words for the first listening.

Try this with a YouTube video or audio clip in English. Write only the content words you hear.

🔁 Recap

In this lesson, you’ve learned that:

• English has a rhythm based on sentence stress.

• Not all words are spoken equally—content words are stressed, function words are not.

• Stress gives English its musical sound and helps with clear communication.

• WASSCE tests sentence stress both in listening and speech recognition tasks.

🪞 Reflection Prompt

Think of a time when you misunderstood someone speaking English. Could the confusion have come from how they stressed (or didn’t stress) words? Try reading one of your textbook paragraphs aloud using correct sentence stress—how does it sound different?