Wit and Humour
Stress and intonation
Find out how stress and intonation can change what a sentence means.
Two things about how a sentence is said can change its meaning without changing a word:
- intonation: the rise and fall of your voice
- sentence stress: putting emphasis on certain words to show what's important
A warning: stress doesn't mean louder! It means saying a word with more emphasis: usually a bit longer, a bit higher, a bit clearer.
Which words get stressed? Mostly content words that carry meaning (book, run, beautiful, quickly). Function words (she, in, is, the) are usually unstressed.
Intonation: statements usually have a falling tone at the end. "I saw Mrs Cotter this afternoon." (voice drops) = a statement.
Say the same words with your voice rising at the end, and it becomes a question: "I saw Mrs Cotter this afternoon?" (Was it really me who saw her?) Same words, different job!
Moving the stress changes meaning too. Try "I didn't hurt anyone today":
| Stress | Meaning |
|---|---|
| I didn't ... | I didn't, but someone else might have |
| I didn't ... | it simply didn't happen |
| I didn't hurt ... | I may have done other things, but not hurt anyone |
| ... anyone ... | not a single person was hurt |
| ... today | not today, whatever I usually do |
So be careful when you speak: stress and intonation can change what you mean. Mary in the play had enough trouble with the words alone!
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