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Content or Function?
First, you need to be able to immediately distinguish between content and function words. Write
down 'C' for content and 'F' for function. When you have finished click on the arrow to see if you
have answered correctly.
1. went
2. with
3. just
4. quickly
5. the
6. hard
7. next to
8. CD ROM
9. open
10. had
Which Words?
Next, take a look at the sentences and mark the words that should be stressed. Once you have
decided, click on the arrow to see if you have chosen the correct words.
Example: Jack (yes) went (yes) to the shop (yes) to grab (yes) some coke (yes).
4. It must have been something in the air that caused Jack to shout.
English is a very rhythmic language because of this tendency to accent only certain words. For
this reason, you should practice using your ear as much as possible. Often repeating spoken
English without looking at the written sentence can also help you learn this 'music' of the
language. Click on the audio symbol below to listen to five sentences. Each sentence will be
repeated three times with gaps in-between so that you can try repeating the sentences yourself. If
you need some help, here are the sentences which you can listen to and read while working on
this exercise.
Finally, practice speaking through the sentences below. First speak the sentence trying to
carefully pronounce EVERY word. Notice how unnatural this sounds (as in the listening exercise
above showing the contrast between this unnatural pronunciation and the natural way of
speaking). Next, focus on speaking the sentences only working on stressing the content words.
Tape yourself doing this and you will be surprised at how quickly your pronunciation improves!
Pronunciation Exercises 2
For more information on the basics of the stress-timed nature of English, please refer to:
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