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STRESS and EMPHASIS

“I didn’t say we should kill him!”

When you speak English do you ever consider your tone?  To be really good at speaking English you must not only understand the grammar and the vocabulary and perfect how you communicate. You must also understand the conversational tone and tactics that native speakers use. A simple example for you is to consider when your voice rises and falls in a phrase. However in English adding additional STRESS or EMPHASIS can change the significance entirely. Look at these examples, stress the words in bold:

  1. I didn’t say we should kill him.  = Someone else said we should kill him.
  2. I didn’t say we should kill him. = I am denying saying it.
  3. I didn’t say we should kill him. = I implied it / whispered it / wrote it down.
  4. I didn’t say we should kill him. = I said someone else should kill him /you should kill him, etc.
  5. I didn’t say we should kill him. = I said we shouldn’t kill him / we must kill him, etc.
  6. I didn’t say we should kill him. = I said we should take him to dinner /take care of him / send him on a diving holiday.
  7. I didn’t say we should kill him. = We should kill someone else.

So, be careful when you talk about killing someone!

Contact Rachel today > http://www.italki.com/teacher/1394345