This listening activity will help you to practice rhythm and word stress in English sentences. First, listen to the audio. Were you able to tell which words were stressed? Remember, in order to stress a word, make it longer and stronger. Next, listen to the audio again and repeat each phrase. Finally, read the phrases aloud and stress the words indicated.

LISTEN

Listen to the audio recording below.

PRACTICE

Listen to these phrases and practice reading them.

1.    -     ●   -
   are looking
2.    -    -    ●
   have to give
3.  -   -     -      ●
   in the next month
4.  -      ●      -   -    ●
   will launch in a week
5.   -      -    ●   -    -     ●
   need to leverage the web
6.   ●    -    -    -   ●   -
   software as a service
7.  ●   -   -   -    -    ●
   president of the firm
8.   -    ●    -   -   ●
   get ready to sell
9.   -     ●     -     -    ●   -    ●
   what vendors can do for you
10.    -    ●      -   -  -    ●   -   ●  -  -
    they talk about the cost of energy

More Practice
Try these related pages to help you practice rhythm and stress:
Rhythm and Word Stress Practice B
Rhythm and Word Stress Practice C

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LISTEN

Listen to the audio recording below.

PRACTICE

First listen to the clapping of the rhythm and record your own.
Then practice the phrases, using the same rhythm.

1. - - ● (3 syllables, stress on the 3^rd)
   1a. it’s okay
   1b. to be done
   1c. in the dark
    
2. ● - - ● (4 syllables, stress on the 1^st and 4^th)
   2a. get what you want
   2b. still haven’t found
   2c. John is the boss
    
3. ● - - - ● (5 syllables, stress on the 1^st and 5^th)
   3a. register today
   3b. early in the day
   3c. give me the control
    
4. - ● - - ● - (6 syllables, stress on the 2^nd and 5^th)
   4a. a number of topics
   4b. solutions are needed
   4c. a good installation

LISTEN

Listen to the audio recording below.

PRACTICE

Remember that if a sentence has the same amount of stress, the time it takes to read the sentence is the same, no matter how many syllables there are.

Listen to and practice these sentences below. Focus on keeping the
stress the same for each group of sentences.

1.  ●            ●
   Fund the research.
   1a. They fund research.
   1b. He funds the research.
   1c. He can’t fund any research.
   1d. They can fund basic research.
    
2.  ●            ●
   Go with open source.
   2a. He goes with open source.
   2b. They went with open source.
   2c. They will go with open source.
   2d. We didn’t go with open source.
    
3.       ●       ●
   Create plans.
   3a. He created plans.
   3b. He didn’t create a plan.
   3c. He’ll create a plan.
   3d. He hasn’t created the plans.

WATCH THE VIDEO

PRACTICE

Important Points to Remember:

The words we stress are the words that hold the most meaning in the sentence they are called “content” words. The unstressed words are those that help out with the grammar- they are called “function” words.

Content words are:
nouns (bosses)
main verbs (giving)
adverbs (quickly)
adjectives (great)

Function words are:
pronouns (he)
prepositions (at)
articles (the)
be verb (is)
conjunctions (and)
helping verbs (can)

Sometimes we break the rule when we want to emphasize something. In the last line, the helping verb “did” is stressed. The speaker wanted to emphasize that Bob really loved to hear himself cry.

Stressed words are in bold:
There once was a man named Bob.
Who never found joy in his job.
He wanted to quit,
But he couldn’t admit
That he did love to hear himself sob.

LISTEN

Listen to the audio recording below.

PRACTICE

Read and listen to the dialogs below. Pay attention to where
the stress is put in the sentences. Practice reading the dialogs with the recording, and
then record yourself reading them.

1. A: Tuesday works for me. Does it work for you?
   B: No, Tuesday is out. How about Wednesday?
   A: Wednesday is not good.
   B: OK, then how about Thursday?
   A: Yes, Thursday works.
    
2. A: I lost my security badge.
   B: Do you know where you lost it?
   A: I might have lost it in the parking lot.
   B: That’s not good, whoever finds it can get into the building.
   A: I know. It’s, terrible.
    
3. A: Did you hear that they were acquired for 1 billion dollars?
   B: That’s unbelievable.
   A: I know. I never thought it would be worth that much.
   B: I guess the investors see something in it that we don’t.
    
4. A: Are you ready for your presentation?
   B: Almost. I’m just putting the finishing touches on it
   now.
   A: Are you going to include the sales figures from yesterday?
   B: Of course, that’s the best part.
    
5. A: I’d like to talk to your product manager. Is he available?
   B: Yes, can I have your name please?
   A: It’s Jonathan Billings from Advo.
   B: Thank you. I’ll transfer you.

LISTEN

Listen to the audio recording below.

PRACTICE

Read these poems and practice the rhythm. Record yourself
and compare it with the teacher's.

1. There once was a man named Bob,
   who never found joy in his job.
   He wanted to quit,
   but he couldn’t admit
   that he did love to hear himself sob.
    
2. I know of a man in HR
   who hates to drive his own car,
   and he makes quite a fuss
   about taking the bus,
   but he doesn’t live very far.
    
3. I completed the job application
   after months of procrastination.
   It took me two years
   to get over my fears,
   and now I need a vacation.
    
4. My cousin had a big nose.
   It was twice the length of a hose.
   When he would sneeze,
   he could feel the breeze
   all the way down to his toes.

LISTEN

Listen to the audio recording below.

PRACTICE

Two-word verbs (phrasal verbs) usually stress the second word.
Two-word nouns (compound nouns) usually stress the first word. Listen to and practice
reading these verbs and nouns.

1. (to) take down
2. (to) point out
3. (to) look up
4. (to) watch out
5. (to) jump in
6. (to) look over
7. (to) pick up
8. (to) spin off
9. (to) dig down
10. (to) put away
     
11. a growth strategy
12. a firewall
13. a whiteboard
14. a bookshelf
15. a father figure
16. the stock market
17. a press release
18. a white paper
19. a start up
20. a spin off

QUIZ

First, record yourself reading each sentence while placing stress on the appropriate words.

1. The website launched today.
2. Do you understand what I’m saying?
3. This will allow for many opportunities.
4. It can’t get any better than this.
5. The company paid $50 million for the acquisition.
6. They have evolved into a leading global brand.
7. If I had a chance to invest, I would. What would you do?
8. The talks didn’t amount to anything.
9. Their growth strategy looked impressive.
10. They just passed the 50 million user mark.

LISTEN

Listen to the answers.

1. The website launched today.
2. Do you understand what I’m saying?
3. This will allow for many opportunities.
4. It can’t get any better than this.
5. The company paid 50 million dollars for the acquisition.
6. They have evolved into a leading global brand.
7. If I had a chance to invest, I would. What would you do?
8. The talks didn’t amount to anything.
9. Their growth strategy looked impressive.
10. They just passed the 50 million user mark.

This English learning activity is about thought groups. The activity includes an instructional video focusing on thought groups and pausing while speaking. It is designed to help you learn what thought groups are and how to pause around thought groups.

To complete this activity, begin by watching the video. Next, read important points to remember below. Practice reading the sentences with the pauses. Don’t worry about slowing down. Pausing actually helps you to sound more fluent and is an important part of the rhythm of English.

WATCH THE VIDEO

PRACTICE

Important Points to Remember:

• When we’re reading, we pause at punctuation marks:


comma ,        semi-colon ;         colon :         parentheses ()
dash -         quotation marks “ ”         period .

• But when we speak, we choose to pause around “thought groups.”

Thought groups are groups of words that form a meaningful unit in a sentence:

Noun phrases: the well-respected manager
Verb phrases: spoke kindly
Prepositional phrases: about her staff
Clauses: if you do your job well, when you start your job

• Pauses aren’t always required at every thought group.

If your team  /  does its job well,  /  your manager  /  will speak kindly  /  about your group.  / 
(5 pauses)

If your team does its job well  /  your manager will speak positively  /  about your group. /
(3 pauses)

• There is usually only one stressed word in each thought group.

If your team  /  does its job well  /  your manager  /  will speak positively  /  about your group.

More Practice
Try these related pages to help you practice with thought groups:
Thought Groups Practice A
Thought Groups Practice B
Thought Groups Practice C

If you are a MyOvient PLUS or PRO member, you can ask questions or leave comments about this page. Click here to learn more about MyOvient Membership.

LISTEN

Listen to the audio recording below.

PRACTICE

Read the sentences, and pause at the end of each line. Stress the bold word.

1. It is a well-known fact
   that social interaction
   is important
   for our health.
    
2. The meetings we had
   over the course of 2 years
   were very useful
   for the development
   of our product.
    
3. The largest concentration
   of wind turbines
   in the world
   is near Highway 580.
    
4. Moore’s Law says
   that the number of transistors
   that can be placed on an integrated circuit
   doubles every two years.
    
5. Highway billboards
   are a great way for hotels
   to get last-minute customers.
    
6. It is a web-based storage system
   that allows you
   to access your files
   from anywhere.
    
7. Even today,
   there are fewer women
   who work in software engineering
   than in other professions.
    
8. The Tech Museum in San Jose
   offers visitors a chance to see
   how technology works.
    
9. On April 30, 1993,
   CERN announced
   that the world wide web
   would be free
   to anyone.
    
10. A coin toss
    is the most effective way
    to decide
    which team goes first
    in a sporting event.

LISTEN

Listen to the audio recording below.

PRACTICE

Listen to the sentences. Practice saying the sentences with different pauses. (All the sentences are correct.)

( / ) = a short pause

1. You can join us  /  on Friday,  /  if you want.
2. You can join us on Friday,  /  if you want.
3. They said the meeting  /  is rescheduled  /  for Monday.
4. They said the meeting  /  is rescheduled for Monday.
5. Francis thought  /  her invention  /  would change the world.
6. Francis thought her invention  /  would change the world.
7. If you don’t back up your computer,  /  you may find yourself  /  in a terrible situation  /  at a later date.
8. If you don’t back up your computer,  /  you may find yourself in a terrible situation at a later date.
9. The warning signal  /  is a blinking light  /  on the dashboard.
10. The warning signal  /  is a blinking light on the dashboard.

LISTEN

Listen to the audio recording below.

PRACTICE

Practice these sentences and pay attention to the pauses at the punctuation marks.

If you don’t pause in the correct places, the meaning will change.

1. 3 + (3 x 2) = 9
   three  /  plus three times two  /  equals nine
    
2. (3 + 3) x 2 = 12
   three plus three  /  times two  /  equals twelve
    
3. (10 - 3) x 7 = 49
   ten minus three  /  times seven  /  equals forty nine
    
4. 10 - (3 x 7) = -11
   ten  /  minus three times seven  /  equals negative eleven
    
5. (408) 524-1649
   four oh eight  /  five two four  /  one six four nine
    
6. 4085-241-649
   four oh eight five  /  two four one  /  six four nine
    
7. “Tom,” said Cathy, “is mean.”
   Tom  /  said Cathy  /  is mean. (Cathy thinks Tom is mean.)
    
8. Tom said Cathy is mean.
   Tom said  /  Cathy is mean. (Tom thinks Cathy is mean.)
    
9. I would like to buy a car, phone, and house.
   I would like to buy a car,  /  phone,  /  and house. (Buy 3 things.)
    
10. I would like to buy a car phone and house.
    I would like to buy a car phone  /  and house. (Buy 2 things.)
     
11. Do you want a soup or salad?
    Do you want a soup  /  or salad? (2 choices)
     
12. Do you want a super salad?
    Do you want a super salad? (1 choice)

LISTEN

Listen to the audio recording below.

PRACTICE

Make a short pause when you see a slash ( / ) and make a longer
pause when you see a double slash ( // ).

When people think of Silicon Valley, // they usually think of the technology companies / that have changed the way /  we live our lives. // When they visit the Valley, / they want to tour these famous companies / and eavesdrop on people in cafes / to hear what the next big startup is going to be. // However, / if you visit, / don't forget about the "natural" part of the valley. // Look around you as you drive through Sunnyvale / and notice the fruit trees in nearly every yard. // Fruit agriculture / was the major industry here / from the late 1800s / to the mid 1900s. // You can find some of California's first wineries / in the Santa Clara Valley. // Did you know / that Palo Alto / is a great place to hike? // There are great trails / on the southwestern part of the city / where the mountains meet the valley. // And of course, / you are a short drive / to the Pacific coast / where you can catch a wave / or a take a walk along the beach. // The next time you're here, / step back from your technology, / and step into nature.