VOA慢速英语2019--A Simple Sentence with Seven Meanings

 

In some languages, speakers say each word in a sentence with equal stress. That is true for Japanese, for example. But, as you know, that is not true for English. If you are listening to this program, you just heard me add stress to the word “not” to help make that message clear.

When we talk about stress in spoken language, we are talking about saying something louder and holding the sound a little longer. English speakers use two kinds of stress together when they speak: word stress and sentence stress.

Word stress is saying one syllable¹ of a word louder and longer than the other syllables². The word “painting,” for instance³, has two syllables. The stress is on the first syllable.

Sentence stress is saying a word or words in a sentence louder and longer than the other words.

On this Everyday Grammar program, I will use a simple sentence to show you what that sounds like and how meaning can change completely⁴ when the sentence stress changes.

Rachel Smith is an American English pronunciation expert based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her YouTube channel, Rachel’s English, has become a respected tool for learning⁵ about pronunciation.

Smith notes that, in English, even when you use the same words, you can get very different meanings.

A stress exercise

Today, we will do a listening exercise to explore the connection between sentence stress and meaning.

I chose a sentence that English language teachers have been using for years. By the end of the program, you will understand its simple genius.

It goes like this:

I didn’t say he stole the money.

Naturally, some words carry a little more stress than others. That is just how English works⁶. But notice that one single word doesn’t grab⁷ your attention. Yet, by putting stress on one word each time, we can give the seven-word sentence seven different meanings.

So, let’s get started with the exercise.

Listen to the sentence again:

I didn’t say he stole the money.

I think you can identify which word is being stressed⁸. But do you know what the stress means⁹?

The speaker stressed the word “I” more than all the other words. But what does she mean? She is trying to say that she is not the person who said the man stole the money. Somebody else said it.

Now, listen to what happens when we move the stress to the second word:

I didn’t say he stole the money.

Here, the speaker’s meaning is, “It is not true that I said he stole the money. You think I said it but I did not.”

Now, let’s move the stress to the third word and see how the meaning changes:

I didn’t say he stole the money.

What does the speaker mean now? It sounds like she wanted to suggest that the man stole the money. But she did not want to directly¹⁰ say it.

Alright. Now for the next one. By now you might be able to guess the meaning. Listen here:

I didn’t say he stole the money.

Here, the speaker is suggesting that someone else stole the money, not the man identified in the sentence.

Now, we move to the fifth word in our example. Let’s hear how it sounds:

I didn’t say he stole the money.

What the speaker is trying to say here is, “Maybe he just borrowed the money. Maybe he didn’t steal it.”

Onto the next one, word number six. This one might be a little tricky¹¹, so pay attention:

I didn’t say he stole the money.

In this case, the speaker is suggesting that she is talking about some other money, not the specific¹² money being discussed.

And, finally, we have this last example.

I didn’t say he stole the money.

Here, the speaker is suggesting that the man stole something else. For example, maybe he stole jewelry¹³ or some other valuables.

Closing thoughts

Well, I hope you enjoyed this exercise.

At home, you can practice saying the sentence seven times, moving the stress to a different word each time. Some of you may feel strange about putting stress on one specific word. But it is a communication tool that sounds perfectly¹⁴ natural in English when used correctly.

As you pay attention to native English speakers, you will notice that we use the tool often. You can find examples on television and in films, for example. Try repeating what the speakers say.

Native English speakers often depend on sentence stress to understand what someone else is saying. It can be just as meaningful¹⁵ as word choice.

So, improving your sentence stress will help you to express your intended meaning more clearly as you speak. It will also help you to understand English speakers better.

I’m Alice Bryant.

Words in This Story

stress – n. greater loudness or force given to a word or part of a word in speech

syllable – n. any one of the parts into which a word is naturally divided when it is pronounced

pronunciation – n. the way in which a word or name is pronounced

channel – n. a television, radio or internet station

genius – n. a part of something that makes it unusually good or valuable

grab – v. to get the attention or interest of someone or something

guess – v. to form an opinion or give an answer about something when you do not know much about it

specific – adj. special or particular

practice – v. to do something again and again in order to become better at it

intend – v. to want something to express a particular meaning

1 syllable   

n.音节；vt.分音节

参考例句：

• You put too much emphasis on the last syllable.你把最后一个音节读得太重。
• The stress on the last syllable is light.最后一个音节是轻音节。

2 syllables   

n.音节( syllable的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a word with two syllables 双音节单词
• 'No. But I'll swear it was a name of two syllables.' “想不起。不过我可以发誓，它有两个音节。” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

3 instance   

n.例，例证，实例

参考例句：

• Can you quote me a recent instance?你能给我举一个最近的例子吗？
• He's a greedy boy,yesterday,for instance,he ate all our biscuits!他是个贪吃的孩子――比如，他昨天把我们的饼干都吃了！

4 completely   

adv.完全地，十分地，全然

参考例句：

• She never completely gave up hope.她从不完全放弃希望。
• I feel completely in the dark on this question.这件事使我感到茫然。

5 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

6 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

7 grab   

vt./n.攫取，抓取；vi.攫取，抓住(at)

参考例句：

• It is rude to grab a seat.抢占座位是不礼貌的。
• The thief made a grab at my bag but I pushed him away.贼想抢我的手提包，但被我推开了。

8 stressed   

adj.紧张的，有压力的

参考例句：

• Loud music makes me stressed out.大声的音乐让我很紧张。
• He stressed that we should always be honest.他强调我们应该永远诚实。

9 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。

10 directly   

adv.直接地，径直地；马上，立即

参考例句：

• I will telephone you directly I hear the news.我一听到消息，马上打电话给你。
• She answered me very directly and openly.她非常坦率地、开门见山地答复了我。

11 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

12 specific   

adj.明确的；具体的；特定的

参考例句：

• The money is to be used for specific purposes.这笔钱有专门用途。
• We haven't fixed a specific date for our meeting.我们会议的具体日期还没有定下来。

13 jewelry   

n.（jewllery）（总称）珠宝

参考例句：

• The burglars walked off with all my jewelry.夜盗偷走了我的全部珠宝。
• Jewelry and lace are mostly feminine belongings.珠宝和花边多数是女性用品。

14 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

15 meaningful   

adj.意味深长的；富有意义的

参考例句：

• They exchanged meaningful looks.他们彼此意味深长地交换了一下眼色。
• The article has a meaningful ending.这篇文章的结尾意味深长。