Adverbs
Adverbs are an important part of speech. They usually answer questions such as how?, where?, when?, how often? and how much?
What is an Adverb?
What do adverbs do? What's their job?
What is an Adverb?
An adverb is a word that tells us more about a verb. It "qualifies" or "modifies" a verb (The man ran quickly). In the following examples, the adverb is in bold and the verb that it modifies is in italics.
• John speaks loudly. (How does John speak?)
• Afterwards she smoked a cigarette. (When did she smoke?)
• Mary lives locally. (Where does Mary live?)
But adverbs can also modify adjectives (Tara is really beautiful), or even other adverbs (It works very well). Look at these examples:
• Modify an adjective:
- He is really handsome. (How handsome is he?)
- That was extremely kind of you.
• Modify another adverb:
- She drives incredibly slowly. (How slowly does she drive?)
- He drives extremely fast.
Note that adverbs have other functions, too. They can:
• Modify a whole sentence: Obviously, I can't know everything.
• Modify a prepositional phrase: It's immediately inside the door.
Adverb Form
How do we make adverbs?
Adverb Form
We make many adverbs by adding -ly to an adjective, for example:
• quick (adjective) > quickly (adverb)
• careful (adjective) > carefully (adverb)
• beautiful (adjective) > beautifully (adverb)
There are some basic rules about spelling for -ly adverbs. See the table below:
Adjective ending do this adjective adverb
most adjectives add -ly quick
nice
sole
careful quickly
nicely
solely
carefully
-able or -ible change -e to -y regrettable
horrible regrettably
horribly
-y change -y to -ily happy happily
-ic change -ic to -ically economic economically
But not all words that end in -ly are adverbs. The words friendly, lovely, lonely and neighbourly, for example, are all adjectives.
And some adverbs have no particular form. Look at these examples:
• well, fast, very, never, always, often, still
Note that the form of an adverb can also change to make it comparative or superlative.
Kinds of Adverbs
What are the main kinds of adverbs?
Kinds of Adverbs
Here you can see the basic kinds of adverbs.
Adverbs of Manner
Adverbs of Manner tell us the manner or way in which something happens. They answer the question "how?". Adverbs of Manner mainly modify verbs.
• He speaks slowly. (How does he speak?)
• They helped us cheerfully. (How did they help us?)
• James Bond drives his cars fast. (How does James Bond drive his cars?)
We normally use Adverbs of Manner with dynamic (action) verbs, not with stative or state verbs.
• He ran fast. She came quickly. They worked happily.
• She looked beautifully. It seems strangely. They are happily.
Adverbs of Place
Adverbs of Place tell us the place where something happens. They answer the question "where?". Adverbs of Place mainly modify verbs.
• Please sit here. (Where should I sit?)
• They looked everywhere. (Where did they look?)
• Two cars were parked outside. (Where were two cars parked?)
Adverbs of Time
Adverbs of Time tell us something about the time that something happens. Adverbs of Time mainly modify verbs.
They can answer the question "when?":
• He came yesterday. (When did he come?)
• I want it now. (When do I want it?)
Or they can answer the question "how often?":
• They deliver the newspaper daily. (How often do they deliver the newspaper?)
• We sometimes watch a movie. (How often do we watch a movie?)
Adverbs of Degree
Adverbs of Degree tell us the degree or extent to which something happens. They answer the question "how much?" or "to what degree?". Adverbs of Degree can modify verbs, adjectives and other adverbs.
• She entirely agrees with him. (How much does she agree with him?)
• Mary is very beautiful. (To what degree is Mary beautiful? How beautiful is Mary?)
• He drove quite dangerously. (To what degree did he drive dangerously? How dangerously did he drive?)
Adverb Position
Where do we place the adverb in a sentence?
Adverb Position
When an adverb modifies a verb, there are usually 3 possible positions within the sentence or clause:
1. FRONT - before subject Now I will read a book.
2. MID - between subject + verb I often read books.
3. END - after verb/object I read books carefully.
When an adverb modifies an adjective or another adverb, it usually goes in front of the word that it modifies, for example:
adverb adjective
She gave him a really dirty look.
adverb adverb
We quite often study English.
The position of an adverb often depends on the kind of adverb (manner, place, time, degree). The following table gives you some guidelines for placement based on the kind of adverb.
Warning: these are guidelines only, and not complete. There are many exceptions.
kind of adverb mainly modifies sentence usual position
adverb
manner verbs She stroked his hair gently. END
place verbs He was working here. END
time definite verbs He finished the job yesterday. END
frequency We often go to Paris. MID
degree verbs, adjectives and adverbs I nearly died. MID
It was terribly funny. before adjective
He works really fast. before adverb
Adverbs of Frequency
hourly, weekly, once a year...
always, sometimes, never...
Adverbs of Frequency
Adverbs of Frequency are Adverbs of Time that answer the question "How frequently?" or "How often?". They tell us how often something happens. Here are some examples:
a. daily, weekly, yearly
b. often, sometimes, rarely
You probably see a difference between a) and b) above. With words like daily we know exactly how often. The words in a) describe definite frequency. On the other hand, words like often give us an idea about frequency but they don't tell us exactly. The words in b) describe indefinite frequency.
We separate them into two groups because they normally go in different positions in the sentence.
In this lesson we will look in more detail at:
• Adverbs of Definite Frequency
• Adverbs of Indefinite Frequency
Adverbs of definite frequency
Examples:
• hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly
• every second, once a minute, twice a year
• once, twice, once or twice, three times
Adverbs of definite frequency, like all adverbs of definite time, typically go in END position. Look at these examples:
• Most companies pay taxes yearly.
• The manager checks the toilets every hour.
• The directors meet weekly to review progress.
Sometimes, usually for reasons of emphasis or style, some adverbs of definite frequency may go at the FRONT, for example:
• Every day, more than five thousand people die on our roads.
Adverbs of indefinite frequency
Examples:
• never, seldom, sometimes, often, always
100% always, constantly
usually, normally
frequently, regularly
often
50% sometimes
occasionally
rarely, infrequently
seldom
hardly ever
0% never
Adverbs of indefinite frequency mainly go in MID position in the sentence. They go before the main verb (except the main verb "to be"):
• We usually go shopping on Saturday.
• I have often done that.
• She is always late.
Occasionally, sometimes, often, frequently and usually can also go at the beginning or end of a sentence:
• Sometimes they come and stay with us.
• I play tennis occasionally.
Rarely and seldom can also go at the end of a sentence (often with "very"):
• We see them rarely.
• John eats meat very seldom.
Adverbs of Manner List
Alphabetical list of common single-word manner adverbs
Adverbs of manner form the largest group of adverbs. We make most of them simply by adding -ly to their corresponding adjective. This is an alphabetical list of 130 common single-word adverbs of manner. Adverbs of manner that do not end in -ly are shown in bold.
Accidentally angrily anxiously awkwardly badly beautifully
blindly boldly bravely brightly busily calmly
carefully carelessly cautiously cheerfully clearly
closely correctly courageously cruelly daringly
deliberately doubtfully eagerly easily elegantly
enormously enthusiastically equally eventually exactly
faithfully fast fatally fiercely fondly
foolishly fortunately frankly frantically generously
gently gladly gracefully greedily happily
hard hastily healthily honestly hungrily
hurriedly inadequately ingeniously innocently inquisitively irritably
joyously justly kindly lazily loosely loudly
madly mortally mysteriously neatly nervously noisily
obediently openly painfully patiently perfectly politely
poorly powerfully promptly punctually quickly quietly
rapidly rarely really recklessly regularly reluctantly
repeatedly rightfully roughly rudely sadly safely
selfishly sensibly seriously sharply shyly silently
sleepily slowly smoothly so softly solemnly
speedily stealthily sternly straight stupidly successfully
suddenly suspiciously swiftly tenderly tensely thoughtfully
tightly truthfully unexpectedly victoriously violently vivaciously
warmly weakly wearily well wildly wisely
Adverbs of Time List
List of common single-word time adverbs
points of time (definite):
• now
• then
• today
• tomorrow
• tonight
• yesterday
frequency (definite):
• annually
• daily
• fortnightly
• hourly
• monthly
• nightly
• quarterly
• weekly
• yearly
The word "bimonthly" is ambiguous and best avoided. Bimonthly can mean "twice a month" or "every two months". The same is true of "biyearly"/"biannually".
frequency (indefinite):
• always
• constantly
• ever
• frequently
• generally
• infrequently
• never
• normally
• occasionally
• often
• rarely
• regularly
• seldom
• sometimes
• regularly
• usually
relationships in time (indefinite):
• already
• before
• early
• earlier
• eventually
• finally
• first
• formerly
• just
• last
• late
• later
• lately
• next
• previously
• recently
• since
• soon
• still
• yet
Adverbs of Place List
Alphabetical list of common single-word place adverbs
About above abroad anywhere away back
backwards (also backward) behind below down downstairs
east (etc) elsewhere far here in indoors inside near nearby
off on out outside over there towards under up upstairs
where
Common suffixes
• -wards or -ward (backwards, downwards, eastward, forwards, homewards, upwards)
• -where (anywhere, everywhere, nowhere, somewhere)
Note that some adverbs can also be prepositions.
• She was waiting with a red scarf on. (adverb)
• She put the red scarf on the table. (preposition)
Monday, September 12, 2011
Parts of Speech
Parts of Speech
There are thousands of words in any language. But not all words have the same job. For example, some words express "action". Other words express a "thing". Other words "join" one word to another word. These are the "building blocks" of the language. Think of them like the parts of a house. When we want to build a house, we use concrete to make the foundations or base. We use bricks to make the walls. We use window frames to make the windows, and door frames to make the doorways. And we use cement to join them all together. Each part of the house has its own job. And when we want to build a sentence, we use the different types of word. Each type of word has its own job.
We can categorize English words into 8 basic types or classes. These classes are called "parts of speech".
Some grammar books categorize English into 9 or 10 parts of speech. At EnglishClub, we use the traditional categorization of 8 parts of speech (see table for more details).
It's quite important to recognize parts of speech. This helps you to analyze sentences and understand them. It also helps you to construct good sentences.
In this lesson, we have an overview of the eight parts of speech, followed by a quiz to check your understanding:
• Parts of Speech Table
• Parts of Speech Examples
• Words with More than One Job
Parts of Speech Table
This is a summary of the 8 parts of speech*. You can find more detail if you click on each part of speech.
part of speech function or "job" example words example sentences
Verb
action or state (to) be, have, do, like, work, sing, can, must EnglishClub.com is a web site. I like EnglishClub.com.
Noun
thing or person pen, dog, work, music, town, London, teacher, John This is my dog. He lives in my house. We live in London.
Adjective
describes a noun a/an, the, 69, some, good, big, red, well, interesting My dog is big. I like big dogs.
Adverb
describes a verb, adjective or adverb quickly, silently, well, badly, very, really My dog eats quickly. When he is very hungry, he eats really quickly.
Pronoun
replaces a noun I, you, he, she, some Tara is Indian. She is beautiful.
Preposition
links a noun to another word to, at, after, on, but We went to school on Monday.
Conjunction
joins clauses or sentences or words and, but, when I like dogs and I like cats. I like cats and dogs. I like dogs but I don't like cats.
Interjection
short exclamation, sometimes inserted into a sentence oh!, ouch!, hi!, well Ouch! That hurts! Hi! How are you? Well, I don't know.
* Some grammar sources categorize English into 9 or 10 parts of speech. At EnglishClub.com, we use the traditional categorization of 8 parts of speech. Examples of other categorizations are:
• Verbs may be treated as two different parts of speech:
o Lexical Verbs (work, like, run)
o Auxiliary Verbs (be, have, must)
• Determiners may be treated as a separate part of speech, instead of being categorized under Adjectives
• Parts of Speech Examples
• Here are some sentences made with different English parts of speech:
verb
Stop!
noun verb
John works.
noun verb verb
John is working.
•
pronoun verb noun
She loves animals.
noun verb adjective noun
Animals like kind people.
•
noun verb noun adverb
Tara speaks English well.
noun verb adjective noun
Tara speaks good English.
•
pronoun verb preposition adjective noun adverb
She ran to the station quickly.
•
pron. verb adj. noun conjunction pron. verb pron.
She likes big snakes but I hate them.
• Here is a sentence that contains every part of speech:
interjection pron. conj. adj. noun verb prep. noun adverb
Well, she and young John walk to school slowly.
Words with More than One Job
Many words in English can have more than one job, or be more than one part of speech. For example, "work" can be a verb and a noun; "but" can be a conjunction and a preposition; "well" can be an adjective, an adverb and an interjection. In addition, many nouns can act as adjectives.
To analyze the part of speech, ask yourself: "What job is this word doing in this sentence?"
In the table below you can see a few examples. Of course, there are more, even for some of the words in the table. In fact, if you look in a good dictionary you will see that the word "but" has six jobs to do:
• verb, noun, adverb, pronoun, preposition and conjuction!
word part of speech example
work noun My work is easy.
verb I work in London.
but conjunction John came but Mary didn't come.
preposition Everyone came but Mary.
well adjective Are you well?
adverb She speaks well.
interjection Well! That's expensive!
afternoon noun We ate in the afternoon.
noun acting as adjective We had afternoon tea.
There are thousands of words in any language. But not all words have the same job. For example, some words express "action". Other words express a "thing". Other words "join" one word to another word. These are the "building blocks" of the language. Think of them like the parts of a house. When we want to build a house, we use concrete to make the foundations or base. We use bricks to make the walls. We use window frames to make the windows, and door frames to make the doorways. And we use cement to join them all together. Each part of the house has its own job. And when we want to build a sentence, we use the different types of word. Each type of word has its own job.
We can categorize English words into 8 basic types or classes. These classes are called "parts of speech".
Some grammar books categorize English into 9 or 10 parts of speech. At EnglishClub, we use the traditional categorization of 8 parts of speech (see table for more details).
It's quite important to recognize parts of speech. This helps you to analyze sentences and understand them. It also helps you to construct good sentences.
In this lesson, we have an overview of the eight parts of speech, followed by a quiz to check your understanding:
• Parts of Speech Table
• Parts of Speech Examples
• Words with More than One Job
Parts of Speech Table
This is a summary of the 8 parts of speech*. You can find more detail if you click on each part of speech.
part of speech function or "job" example words example sentences
Verb
action or state (to) be, have, do, like, work, sing, can, must EnglishClub.com is a web site. I like EnglishClub.com.
Noun
thing or person pen, dog, work, music, town, London, teacher, John This is my dog. He lives in my house. We live in London.
Adjective
describes a noun a/an, the, 69, some, good, big, red, well, interesting My dog is big. I like big dogs.
Adverb
describes a verb, adjective or adverb quickly, silently, well, badly, very, really My dog eats quickly. When he is very hungry, he eats really quickly.
Pronoun
replaces a noun I, you, he, she, some Tara is Indian. She is beautiful.
Preposition
links a noun to another word to, at, after, on, but We went to school on Monday.
Conjunction
joins clauses or sentences or words and, but, when I like dogs and I like cats. I like cats and dogs. I like dogs but I don't like cats.
Interjection
short exclamation, sometimes inserted into a sentence oh!, ouch!, hi!, well Ouch! That hurts! Hi! How are you? Well, I don't know.
* Some grammar sources categorize English into 9 or 10 parts of speech. At EnglishClub.com, we use the traditional categorization of 8 parts of speech. Examples of other categorizations are:
• Verbs may be treated as two different parts of speech:
o Lexical Verbs (work, like, run)
o Auxiliary Verbs (be, have, must)
• Determiners may be treated as a separate part of speech, instead of being categorized under Adjectives
• Parts of Speech Examples
• Here are some sentences made with different English parts of speech:
verb
Stop!
noun verb
John works.
noun verb verb
John is working.
•
pronoun verb noun
She loves animals.
noun verb adjective noun
Animals like kind people.
•
noun verb noun adverb
Tara speaks English well.
noun verb adjective noun
Tara speaks good English.
•
pronoun verb preposition adjective noun adverb
She ran to the station quickly.
•
pron. verb adj. noun conjunction pron. verb pron.
She likes big snakes but I hate them.
• Here is a sentence that contains every part of speech:
interjection pron. conj. adj. noun verb prep. noun adverb
Well, she and young John walk to school slowly.
Words with More than One Job
Many words in English can have more than one job, or be more than one part of speech. For example, "work" can be a verb and a noun; "but" can be a conjunction and a preposition; "well" can be an adjective, an adverb and an interjection. In addition, many nouns can act as adjectives.
To analyze the part of speech, ask yourself: "What job is this word doing in this sentence?"
In the table below you can see a few examples. Of course, there are more, even for some of the words in the table. In fact, if you look in a good dictionary you will see that the word "but" has six jobs to do:
• verb, noun, adverb, pronoun, preposition and conjuction!
word part of speech example
work noun My work is easy.
verb I work in London.
but conjunction John came but Mary didn't come.
preposition Everyone came but Mary.
well adjective Are you well?
adverb She speaks well.
interjection Well! That's expensive!
afternoon noun We ate in the afternoon.
noun acting as adjective We had afternoon tea.
English is not Phonetic
English is not Phonetic
Contents:
Glossary of Pronunciation Terms
Word Stress in English
Understanding Syllables
Rules of Word Stress in English
Sentence Stress in English
Linking in English
o Understanding Vowels & Consonants for Linking
o Linking Consonant to Vowel
Linking Vowel to Vowel
English Phonetic Spelling
Phonemic Chart
Contractions
Homophones List ~ Contractions
What Are Homophones?
Common Homophones List
Pairs
o Minimal Pairs /b/ and /v
o Minimal Pairs /l/ and /r/
o Minimal Pairs /əʊ/ and /ɔ:/
Alphabet Sounds
Tongue-Twisters
Always remember that English is not "phonetic". That means that we do not always say a word the same way that we spell it.
Some words can have the same spelling but different pronunciation, for example:
• I like to read [ri:d].
• I have read [red] that book.
Some words have different spelling but the same pronunciation, for example:
• I have read [red] that book.
• My favourite colour is red [red].
Learn the 52 Sounds of English
The English language may have 26 letters of the alphabet, but it has double that number of sounds: 52. Knowing and recognizing the 52 sounds will help to give you good pronunciation. Of course, everybody knows that good pronunciation helps our speaking. But do you know that good pronunciation also helps our listening?
Contents:
Glossary of Pronunciation Terms
Word Stress in English
Understanding Syllables
Rules of Word Stress in English
Sentence Stress in English
Linking in English
o Understanding Vowels & Consonants for Linking
o Linking Consonant to Vowel
Linking Vowel to Vowel
English Phonetic Spelling
Phonemic Chart
Contractions
Homophones List ~ Contractions
What Are Homophones?
Common Homophones List
Pairs
o Minimal Pairs /b/ and /v
o Minimal Pairs /l/ and /r/
o Minimal Pairs /əʊ/ and /ɔ:/
Alphabet Sounds
Tongue-Twisters
Always remember that English is not "phonetic". That means that we do not always say a word the same way that we spell it.
Some words can have the same spelling but different pronunciation, for example:
• I like to read [ri:d].
• I have read [red] that book.
Some words have different spelling but the same pronunciation, for example:
• I have read [red] that book.
• My favourite colour is red [red].
Learn the 52 Sounds of English
The English language may have 26 letters of the alphabet, but it has double that number of sounds: 52. Knowing and recognizing the 52 sounds will help to give you good pronunciation. Of course, everybody knows that good pronunciation helps our speaking. But do you know that good pronunciation also helps our listening?
Glossary of Pronunciation Terms
Glossary of Pronunciation Terms
accent the unique speech patterns of a person or group
affricate a speech sound (consonant) that contains a stop followed by an immediate fricative, as in the ch /ʧ/ in "chair"
air flow/airstream the flow or passage of air out of the mouth
alveolar sound formed by touching the tip of the tongue to the upper alveolar ridge, as in /t/ or /d/
alveolar ridge the bony region at the roof and bottom of the mouth behind the front teeth; contains the tooth sockets
approximants consonants with a partial obstruction of airflow, as in /w/ and /r/
articulation the act of making speech sounds
aspiration a small "explosion" of air when you make a sound
auditory hearing (not seeing)
bilabial consonant sounds formed using both lips, as in /p/ or /b/
close vowel (sometimes called "high" vowel) a vowel sound that is pronounced with the tongue close to the roof of the mouth (but not close enough to constrict the air and make a consonant), as in /i:/ in the word "free"
consonant a speech sound made when there is complete or partial obstruction of air in the mouth, as in /v/, /h/, /d/ (compare vowel)
clusters blended sounds put together to make a single sound
curl a position of the tongue where the tongue is shaped in a curve, not flat
dental a consonant sound made when the tongue touches the upper teeth, as in /t/ and /n/
dialect unique vocabulary, pronunciation and usage that is typical of a certain group of people
diphthong a sound made by the combination of two vowel sounds in a single syllable, as in "boy", "loud" or "wide", where the sound starts as one vowel and moves towards another vowel
flatten a positioning of the tongue where the tongue is flat not round
fricative a speech sound (consonant) in which air is forced to pass through a small opening and creates friction, as in /f/ and /v/
glide/slide moving the tongue while saying a word
glottal stop the sound that is made when the vocal folds are closed very briefly; as in the middle of the word "uh-oh" (common in American English)
gum the tissue around the base of the teeth
hard palate hard part of the roof of the mouth
intonation change in pitch of a sentence, up and down; the music or rhythm of speech
labiodental sounds that are made with the lower lip and upper teeth, as in /f/ and /v/
larynx the hollow, muscular organ in the throat that holds the vocal chords; the voice box
lateral a speech sound that is made by touching the tongue to the middle of the alveolar ridge, allowing air to pass on both sides
lengthen sound make the duration of the sound longer
linking
the joining of words when speaking, as in "Ca-nI-ha-va-bi-to-fegg?" (Can I have a bit of egg?)
lips spread lips are open slightly and pulled back
lower bottom of mouth
minimal pairs two words that differ only in terms of one sound, as in "cat and bat" OR "fine and vine"
monophthong a single vowel sound that does not change in auditory quality; also called a "pure vowel"
nasal consonants consonant sounds made by pushing air through the nose, as in /m/, /n/ and /ŋ/
non-pulmonic when the air comes from a source other than the lungs
obstruction a blockage of air flow
open vowel (also called "low" vowel) a vowel that is produced with the tongue far down from the roof of the mouth, as in the /a:/ sound in "far"
palatal a sound that is made when the tongue is near or touching the roof of the mouth
palate the roof of the mouth
phoneme an individual speech sound
phonetic alphabet an alphabet that represents the sounds of speech
phonetic transcription a form of notation that uses symbols to identify the individual sounds (phonemes) in a word
plosive a consonant sound produced when there is a complete obstruction of air followed by its sudden release, as in the /p/ of "pot"
pitch amount of highness or lowness of a sound or speech
postalveolar a consonant sound made with the tip of the tongue slightly back from the alveolar ridge, as in /ʃ/ in "shut"
pressed lips top and bottom lips touching
protruded lips rounded lips, pushed out
pulmonic a sound that is made using the airstream directly from the lungs
raised higher than the neutral position
reduction the natural shortening of sounds when speaking (e.g. "going to" reduced to "gonna")
rhotic a variety or dialect of English in which "r" is pronounced before a consonant (as in "hard") and at the end of words (as in "car"); Midwestern American English, for example, is "rhotic"
roof the inside top part of the mouth
rounded lips lips formed into the shape of a circle
rounded vowel a vowel made with rounded lips
sentence stress
the placement of emphasis on specific words within a sentence or phrase
shorten sound make the duration of a sound shorter
soft palate soft part of the roof of the mouth
sonorant sounds that are made when air is impeded only slightly, as in /m/, /n/
stop (stop consonant) a consonant sound that is produced when the airflow is (temporarily) stopped entirely by the lips or tongue, as in /p/
syllable a single unit of sound that creates one beat in a word; the word "coffee" has two syllables (cof-fee)
syllable nucleus the central part of a syllable, usually a vowel
tap touch quickly
tone the emotion that is conveyed through the sound of speech (e.g. anger or sadness)
tongue muscular tissue in the mouth used for tasting and articulating
tooth ridge the hard area directly behind the top front teeth
trill a vibrating sound made with a flapping tongue, as in the rolled "r" sound made when people roll their r's
upper top of mouth
velar of a sound that is made with the back of the tongue near the soft palate, as in the the /ŋ/ in "sing"
velum a soft membrane on the roof of the mouth (also called "soft palate")
vocal chords (AmE cords) two muscles inside the larynx that vibrate and create the voice
vocal tract the entire apparatus that produces voice, starting in the lungs and ending at the lips and nostrils (openings of the mouth and nose)
voiced of a sound made with the vocal chords (voice box) vibrating
voiceless/unvoiced of a sound made without the vocal chords (voice box) vibrating
vowel a speech sound made when air is free to pass through the mouth with little or no obstruction, as in sounds made with the letters a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y (compare consonant)
vowel backness position of the tongue in relation to the back of the mouth when making a vowel sound (positions include front, near-front, centre, near-back, back)
vowel height distance between the tongue and the roof of the mouth when pronouncing a vowel sound (IPA has 7 heights: close (highest), near-close, mid-close, mid, open-mid, near-open, open (lowest)
word stress
the placement of emphasis within a word that has more than one syllable
accent the unique speech patterns of a person or group
affricate a speech sound (consonant) that contains a stop followed by an immediate fricative, as in the ch /ʧ/ in "chair"
air flow/airstream the flow or passage of air out of the mouth
alveolar sound formed by touching the tip of the tongue to the upper alveolar ridge, as in /t/ or /d/
alveolar ridge the bony region at the roof and bottom of the mouth behind the front teeth; contains the tooth sockets
approximants consonants with a partial obstruction of airflow, as in /w/ and /r/
articulation the act of making speech sounds
aspiration a small "explosion" of air when you make a sound
auditory hearing (not seeing)
bilabial consonant sounds formed using both lips, as in /p/ or /b/
close vowel (sometimes called "high" vowel) a vowel sound that is pronounced with the tongue close to the roof of the mouth (but not close enough to constrict the air and make a consonant), as in /i:/ in the word "free"
consonant a speech sound made when there is complete or partial obstruction of air in the mouth, as in /v/, /h/, /d/ (compare vowel)
clusters blended sounds put together to make a single sound
curl a position of the tongue where the tongue is shaped in a curve, not flat
dental a consonant sound made when the tongue touches the upper teeth, as in /t/ and /n/
dialect unique vocabulary, pronunciation and usage that is typical of a certain group of people
diphthong a sound made by the combination of two vowel sounds in a single syllable, as in "boy", "loud" or "wide", where the sound starts as one vowel and moves towards another vowel
flatten a positioning of the tongue where the tongue is flat not round
fricative a speech sound (consonant) in which air is forced to pass through a small opening and creates friction, as in /f/ and /v/
glide/slide moving the tongue while saying a word
glottal stop the sound that is made when the vocal folds are closed very briefly; as in the middle of the word "uh-oh" (common in American English)
gum the tissue around the base of the teeth
hard palate hard part of the roof of the mouth
intonation change in pitch of a sentence, up and down; the music or rhythm of speech
labiodental sounds that are made with the lower lip and upper teeth, as in /f/ and /v/
larynx the hollow, muscular organ in the throat that holds the vocal chords; the voice box
lateral a speech sound that is made by touching the tongue to the middle of the alveolar ridge, allowing air to pass on both sides
lengthen sound make the duration of the sound longer
linking
the joining of words when speaking, as in "Ca-nI-ha-va-bi-to-fegg?" (Can I have a bit of egg?)
lips spread lips are open slightly and pulled back
lower bottom of mouth
minimal pairs two words that differ only in terms of one sound, as in "cat and bat" OR "fine and vine"
monophthong a single vowel sound that does not change in auditory quality; also called a "pure vowel"
nasal consonants consonant sounds made by pushing air through the nose, as in /m/, /n/ and /ŋ/
non-pulmonic when the air comes from a source other than the lungs
obstruction a blockage of air flow
open vowel (also called "low" vowel) a vowel that is produced with the tongue far down from the roof of the mouth, as in the /a:/ sound in "far"
palatal a sound that is made when the tongue is near or touching the roof of the mouth
palate the roof of the mouth
phoneme an individual speech sound
phonetic alphabet an alphabet that represents the sounds of speech
phonetic transcription a form of notation that uses symbols to identify the individual sounds (phonemes) in a word
plosive a consonant sound produced when there is a complete obstruction of air followed by its sudden release, as in the /p/ of "pot"
pitch amount of highness or lowness of a sound or speech
postalveolar a consonant sound made with the tip of the tongue slightly back from the alveolar ridge, as in /ʃ/ in "shut"
pressed lips top and bottom lips touching
protruded lips rounded lips, pushed out
pulmonic a sound that is made using the airstream directly from the lungs
raised higher than the neutral position
reduction the natural shortening of sounds when speaking (e.g. "going to" reduced to "gonna")
rhotic a variety or dialect of English in which "r" is pronounced before a consonant (as in "hard") and at the end of words (as in "car"); Midwestern American English, for example, is "rhotic"
roof the inside top part of the mouth
rounded lips lips formed into the shape of a circle
rounded vowel a vowel made with rounded lips
sentence stress
the placement of emphasis on specific words within a sentence or phrase
shorten sound make the duration of a sound shorter
soft palate soft part of the roof of the mouth
sonorant sounds that are made when air is impeded only slightly, as in /m/, /n/
stop (stop consonant) a consonant sound that is produced when the airflow is (temporarily) stopped entirely by the lips or tongue, as in /p/
syllable a single unit of sound that creates one beat in a word; the word "coffee" has two syllables (cof-fee)
syllable nucleus the central part of a syllable, usually a vowel
tap touch quickly
tone the emotion that is conveyed through the sound of speech (e.g. anger or sadness)
tongue muscular tissue in the mouth used for tasting and articulating
tooth ridge the hard area directly behind the top front teeth
trill a vibrating sound made with a flapping tongue, as in the rolled "r" sound made when people roll their r's
upper top of mouth
velar of a sound that is made with the back of the tongue near the soft palate, as in the the /ŋ/ in "sing"
velum a soft membrane on the roof of the mouth (also called "soft palate")
vocal chords (AmE cords) two muscles inside the larynx that vibrate and create the voice
vocal tract the entire apparatus that produces voice, starting in the lungs and ending at the lips and nostrils (openings of the mouth and nose)
voiced of a sound made with the vocal chords (voice box) vibrating
voiceless/unvoiced of a sound made without the vocal chords (voice box) vibrating
vowel a speech sound made when air is free to pass through the mouth with little or no obstruction, as in sounds made with the letters a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y (compare consonant)
vowel backness position of the tongue in relation to the back of the mouth when making a vowel sound (positions include front, near-front, centre, near-back, back)
vowel height distance between the tongue and the roof of the mouth when pronouncing a vowel sound (IPA has 7 heights: close (highest), near-close, mid-close, mid, open-mid, near-open, open (lowest)
word stress
the placement of emphasis within a word that has more than one syllable
Word Stress in English
Word Stress in English
Word stress is your magic key to understanding spoken English. Native speakers of English use word stress naturally. Word stress is so natural for them that they don't even know they use it. Non-native speakers, who speak English to native speakers without using word stress, encounter two problems:
1. They find it difficult to understand native speakers, especially those speaking fast.
2. The native speakers may find it difficult to understand them.
Understanding Syllables
• To understand word stress, it helps to understand syllables.
Every word is made from syllables.
Each word has one, two, three or more syllables.
word number of syllables
dog dog 1
green green 1
quite quite 1
quiet qui-et 2
orange or-ange 2
table ta-ble 2
expensive ex-pen-sive 3
interesting in-ter-est-ing 4
realistic re-al-is-tic 4
unexceptional un-ex-cep-tion-al 5
• Notice that (with a few rare exceptions) every syllable contains at least one vowel (a, e, i, o or u) or vowel sound.
Word stress is your magic key to understanding spoken English. Native speakers of English use word stress naturally. Word stress is so natural for them that they don't even know they use it. Non-native speakers, who speak English to native speakers without using word stress, encounter two problems:
1. They find it difficult to understand native speakers, especially those speaking fast.
2. The native speakers may find it difficult to understand them.
Understanding Syllables
• To understand word stress, it helps to understand syllables.
Every word is made from syllables.
Each word has one, two, three or more syllables.
word number of syllables
dog dog 1
green green 1
quite quite 1
quiet qui-et 2
orange or-ange 2
table ta-ble 2
expensive ex-pen-sive 3
interesting in-ter-est-ing 4
realistic re-al-is-tic 4
unexceptional un-ex-cep-tion-al 5
• Notice that (with a few rare exceptions) every syllable contains at least one vowel (a, e, i, o or u) or vowel sound.
What is Word Stress?
What is Word Stress?
In English, we do not say each syllable with the same force or strength. In one word, we accentuate ONE syllable. We say one syllable very loudly (big, strong, important) and all the other syllables very quietly.
Let's take 3 words: photograph, photographer and photographic. Do they sound the same when spoken? No. Because we accentuate (stress) ONE syllable in each word. And it is not always the same syllable. So the shape of each word is different.
click word to hear shape total
syllables stressed
syllable
PHO TO GRAPH
3 #1
PHO TO GRAPH ER
4 #2
PHO TO GRAPH IC
4 #3
This happens in ALL words with 2 or more syllables: TEACHer, JaPAN, CHINa, aBOVE, converSAtion, INteresting, imPORtant, deMAND, etCETera, etCETera, etCETera
The syllables that are not stressed are weak or small or quiet. Native speakers of English listen for the STRESSED syllables, not the weak syllables. If you use word stress in your speech, you will instantly and automatically improve your pronunciation and your comprehension.
Try to hear the stress in individual words each time you listen to English - on the radio, or in films for example. Your first step is to HEAR and recognise it. After that, you can USE it!
There are two very important rules about word stress:
1. One word, one stress. (One word cannot have two stresses. So if you hear two stresses, you have heard two words, not one word.)
2. The stress is always on a vowel.
Why is Word Stress Important?
Word stress is not used in all languages. Some languages, Japanese or French for example, pronounce each syllable with eq-ual em-pha-sis.
Other languages, English for example, use word stress.
Word stress is not an optional extra that you can add to the English language if you want. It is part of the language! English speakers use word stress to communicate rapidly and accurately, even in difficult conditions. If, for example, you do not hear a word clearly, you can still understand the word because of the position of the stress.
Think again about the two words photograph and photographer. Now imagine that you are speaking to somebody by telephone over a very bad line. You cannot hear clearly. In fact, you hear only the first two syllables of one of these words, photo... Which word is it, photograph or photographer? Of course, with word stress you will know immediately which word it is because in reality you will hear either PHOto... or phoTO... So without hearing the whole word, you probably know what the word is ( PHOto...graph or phoTO...grapher). It's magic! (Of course, you also have the 'context' of your conversation to help you.)
This is a simple example of how word stress helps us understand English. There are many, many other examples, because we use word stress all the time, without thinking about it.
Where do I Put Word Stress?
There are some rules about which syllable to stress. But...the rules are rather complicated! Probably the best way to learn is from experience. Listen carefully to spoken English and try to develop a feeling for the "music" of the language.
When you learn a new word, you should also learn its stress pattern. If you keep a vocabulary book, make a note to show which syllable is stressed. If you do not know, you can look in a dictionary. All dictionaries give the phonetic spelling of a word. This is where they show which syllable is stressed, usually with an apostrophe (') just before or just after the stressed syllable. (The notes at the front of the dictionary will explain the system used.) Look at (and listen to) this example for the word plastic. There are 2 syllables. Syllable #1 is stressed.
example phonetic spelling:
dictionary A phonetic spelling:
dictionary B
PLAS TIC
/plæs'tIk/ /'plæs tIk/
Rules of Word Stress in English
There are two very simple rules about word stress:
1. One word has only one stress. (One word cannot have two stresses. If you hear two stresses, you hear two words. Two stresses cannot be one word. It is true that there can be a "secondary" stress in some words. But a secondary stress is much smaller than the main [primary] stress, and is only used in long words.)
2. We can only stress vowels, not consonants.
________________________________________
Here are some more, rather complicated, rules that can help you understand where to put the stress. But do not rely on them too much, because there are many exceptions. It is better to try to "feel" the music of the language and to add the stress naturally.
1 Stress on first syllable
rule example
Most 2-syllable nouns PRESent, EXport, CHIna, TAble
Most 2-syllable adjectives PRESent, SLENder, CLEVer, HAPpy
2 Stress on last syllable
rule example
Most 2-syllable verbs to preSENT, to exPORT, to deCIDE, to beGIN
There are many two-syllable words in English whose meaning and class change with a change in stress. The word present, for example is a two-syllable word. If we stress the first syllable, it is a noun (gift) or an adjective (opposite of absent). But if we stress the second syllable, it becomes a verb (to offer). More examples: the words export, import, contract and object can all be nouns or verbs depending on whether the stress is on the first or second syllable.
3 Stress on penultimate syllable (penultimate = second from end)
rule example
Words ending in -ic GRAPHic, geoGRAPHic, geoLOGic
Words ending in -sion and -tion teleVIsion, reveLAtion
For a few words, native English speakers don't always "agree" on where to put the stress. For example, some people say teleVIsion and others say TELevision. Another example is: CONtroversy and conTROversy.
4 Stress on ante-penultimate syllable (ante-penultimate = third from end)
rule example
Words ending in -cy, -ty, -phy and -gy deMOcracy, dependaBIlity, phoTOgraphy, geOLogy
Words ending in -al CRItical, geoLOGical
5 Compound words (words with two parts)
rule example
For compound nouns, the stress is on the first part BLACKbird, GREENhouse
For compound adjectives, the stress is on the second part bad-TEMpered, old-FASHioned
For compound verbs, the stress is on the second part to underSTAND, to overFLOW
In English, we do not say each syllable with the same force or strength. In one word, we accentuate ONE syllable. We say one syllable very loudly (big, strong, important) and all the other syllables very quietly.
Let's take 3 words: photograph, photographer and photographic. Do they sound the same when spoken? No. Because we accentuate (stress) ONE syllable in each word. And it is not always the same syllable. So the shape of each word is different.
click word to hear shape total
syllables stressed
syllable
PHO TO GRAPH
3 #1
PHO TO GRAPH ER
4 #2
PHO TO GRAPH IC
4 #3
This happens in ALL words with 2 or more syllables: TEACHer, JaPAN, CHINa, aBOVE, converSAtion, INteresting, imPORtant, deMAND, etCETera, etCETera, etCETera
The syllables that are not stressed are weak or small or quiet. Native speakers of English listen for the STRESSED syllables, not the weak syllables. If you use word stress in your speech, you will instantly and automatically improve your pronunciation and your comprehension.
Try to hear the stress in individual words each time you listen to English - on the radio, or in films for example. Your first step is to HEAR and recognise it. After that, you can USE it!
There are two very important rules about word stress:
1. One word, one stress. (One word cannot have two stresses. So if you hear two stresses, you have heard two words, not one word.)
2. The stress is always on a vowel.
Why is Word Stress Important?
Word stress is not used in all languages. Some languages, Japanese or French for example, pronounce each syllable with eq-ual em-pha-sis.
Other languages, English for example, use word stress.
Word stress is not an optional extra that you can add to the English language if you want. It is part of the language! English speakers use word stress to communicate rapidly and accurately, even in difficult conditions. If, for example, you do not hear a word clearly, you can still understand the word because of the position of the stress.
Think again about the two words photograph and photographer. Now imagine that you are speaking to somebody by telephone over a very bad line. You cannot hear clearly. In fact, you hear only the first two syllables of one of these words, photo... Which word is it, photograph or photographer? Of course, with word stress you will know immediately which word it is because in reality you will hear either PHOto... or phoTO... So without hearing the whole word, you probably know what the word is ( PHOto...graph or phoTO...grapher). It's magic! (Of course, you also have the 'context' of your conversation to help you.)
This is a simple example of how word stress helps us understand English. There are many, many other examples, because we use word stress all the time, without thinking about it.
Where do I Put Word Stress?
There are some rules about which syllable to stress. But...the rules are rather complicated! Probably the best way to learn is from experience. Listen carefully to spoken English and try to develop a feeling for the "music" of the language.
When you learn a new word, you should also learn its stress pattern. If you keep a vocabulary book, make a note to show which syllable is stressed. If you do not know, you can look in a dictionary. All dictionaries give the phonetic spelling of a word. This is where they show which syllable is stressed, usually with an apostrophe (') just before or just after the stressed syllable. (The notes at the front of the dictionary will explain the system used.) Look at (and listen to) this example for the word plastic. There are 2 syllables. Syllable #1 is stressed.
example phonetic spelling:
dictionary A phonetic spelling:
dictionary B
PLAS TIC
/plæs'tIk/ /'plæs tIk/
Rules of Word Stress in English
There are two very simple rules about word stress:
1. One word has only one stress. (One word cannot have two stresses. If you hear two stresses, you hear two words. Two stresses cannot be one word. It is true that there can be a "secondary" stress in some words. But a secondary stress is much smaller than the main [primary] stress, and is only used in long words.)
2. We can only stress vowels, not consonants.
________________________________________
Here are some more, rather complicated, rules that can help you understand where to put the stress. But do not rely on them too much, because there are many exceptions. It is better to try to "feel" the music of the language and to add the stress naturally.
1 Stress on first syllable
rule example
Most 2-syllable nouns PRESent, EXport, CHIna, TAble
Most 2-syllable adjectives PRESent, SLENder, CLEVer, HAPpy
2 Stress on last syllable
rule example
Most 2-syllable verbs to preSENT, to exPORT, to deCIDE, to beGIN
There are many two-syllable words in English whose meaning and class change with a change in stress. The word present, for example is a two-syllable word. If we stress the first syllable, it is a noun (gift) or an adjective (opposite of absent). But if we stress the second syllable, it becomes a verb (to offer). More examples: the words export, import, contract and object can all be nouns or verbs depending on whether the stress is on the first or second syllable.
3 Stress on penultimate syllable (penultimate = second from end)
rule example
Words ending in -ic GRAPHic, geoGRAPHic, geoLOGic
Words ending in -sion and -tion teleVIsion, reveLAtion
For a few words, native English speakers don't always "agree" on where to put the stress. For example, some people say teleVIsion and others say TELevision. Another example is: CONtroversy and conTROversy.
4 Stress on ante-penultimate syllable (ante-penultimate = third from end)
rule example
Words ending in -cy, -ty, -phy and -gy deMOcracy, dependaBIlity, phoTOgraphy, geOLogy
Words ending in -al CRItical, geoLOGical
5 Compound words (words with two parts)
rule example
For compound nouns, the stress is on the first part BLACKbird, GREENhouse
For compound adjectives, the stress is on the second part bad-TEMpered, old-FASHioned
For compound verbs, the stress is on the second part to underSTAND, to overFLOW
Sentence Stress in English
Sentence Stress in English
Sentence stress is the music of spoken English. Like word stress, sentence stress can help you to understand spoken English, especially when spoken fast.
Sentence stress is what gives English its rhythm or "beat". You remember that word stress is accent on one syllable within a word. Sentence stress is accent on certain words within a sentence.
Most sentences have two types of word:
• content words
• structure words
Content words are the key words of a sentence. They are the important words that carry the meaning or sense.
Structure words are not very important words. They are small, simple words that make the sentence correct grammatically. They give the sentence its correct form or "structure".
If you remove the structure words from a sentence, you will probably still understand the sentence.
If you remove the content words from a sentence, you will not understand the sentence. The sentence has no sense or meaning.
Imagine that you receive this telegram message:
Will you SELL my CAR because I've GONE to FRANCE
This sentence is not complete. It is not a "grammatically correct" sentence. But you probably understand it. These 4 words communicate very well. Somebody wants you to sell their car for them because they have gone to France. We can add a few words:
Will you SELL my CAR because I've GONE to FRANCE
The new words do not really add any more information. But they make the message more correct grammatically. We can add even more words to make one complete, grammatically correct sentence. But the information is basically the same:
Content Words
Will you SELL my CAR because I've GONE to FRANCE.
Structure Words
In our sentence, the 4 key words (sell, car, gone, France) are accentuated or stressed.
Why is this important for pronunciation? It is important because it adds "music" to the language. It is the rhythm of the English language. It changes the speed at which we speak (and listen to) the language. The time between each stressed word is the same.
In our sentence, there is 1 syllable between SELL and CAR and 3 syllables between CAR and GONE. But the time (t) between SELL and CAR and between CAR and GONE is the same. We maintain a constant beat on the stressed words. To do this, we say "my" more slowly, and "because I've" more quickly. We change the speed of the small structure words so that the rhythm of the key content words stays the same.
syllables
2 1 3 1
Will you SELL my CAR because I've GONE to FRANCE.
________________________________________t1 beat ________________________________________t1 beat ________________________________________t1 beat ________________________________________t1 beat
I am a proFESsional phoTOgrapher whose MAIN INterest is to TAKE SPEcial, BLACK and WHITE PHOtographs that exHIBit ABstract MEANings in their photoGRAPHic STRUCture
Sentence stress is the music of spoken English. Like word stress, sentence stress can help you to understand spoken English, especially when spoken fast.
Sentence stress is what gives English its rhythm or "beat". You remember that word stress is accent on one syllable within a word. Sentence stress is accent on certain words within a sentence.
Most sentences have two types of word:
• content words
• structure words
Content words are the key words of a sentence. They are the important words that carry the meaning or sense.
Structure words are not very important words. They are small, simple words that make the sentence correct grammatically. They give the sentence its correct form or "structure".
If you remove the structure words from a sentence, you will probably still understand the sentence.
If you remove the content words from a sentence, you will not understand the sentence. The sentence has no sense or meaning.
Imagine that you receive this telegram message:
Will you SELL my CAR because I've GONE to FRANCE
This sentence is not complete. It is not a "grammatically correct" sentence. But you probably understand it. These 4 words communicate very well. Somebody wants you to sell their car for them because they have gone to France. We can add a few words:
Will you SELL my CAR because I've GONE to FRANCE
The new words do not really add any more information. But they make the message more correct grammatically. We can add even more words to make one complete, grammatically correct sentence. But the information is basically the same:
Content Words
Will you SELL my CAR because I've GONE to FRANCE.
Structure Words
In our sentence, the 4 key words (sell, car, gone, France) are accentuated or stressed.
Why is this important for pronunciation? It is important because it adds "music" to the language. It is the rhythm of the English language. It changes the speed at which we speak (and listen to) the language. The time between each stressed word is the same.
In our sentence, there is 1 syllable between SELL and CAR and 3 syllables between CAR and GONE. But the time (t) between SELL and CAR and between CAR and GONE is the same. We maintain a constant beat on the stressed words. To do this, we say "my" more slowly, and "because I've" more quickly. We change the speed of the small structure words so that the rhythm of the key content words stays the same.
syllables
2 1 3 1
Will you SELL my CAR because I've GONE to FRANCE.
________________________________________t1 beat ________________________________________t1 beat ________________________________________t1 beat ________________________________________t1 beat
I am a proFESsional phoTOgrapher whose MAIN INterest is to TAKE SPEcial, BLACK and WHITE PHOtographs that exHIBit ABstract MEANings in their photoGRAPHic STRUCture
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