Name: Master American English! Sentence Rhythm Part 2
Uploaded: 2024-06-15T23:02:44.000Z
Duration: 9 min 47 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Hi, I'm Julie with San Diego Voice & Accent, and in this video, you'll practice sentence rhythm with a fun musical exercise.

A video I published a year ago called Sentence Rhythm in American English is one of my most watched videos on YouTube.

Adverbs of degree

Viewers said that the technique I showed them in that video was super helpful as they practiced conversational English, and they asked for more videos just like it.

I'm so glad the video was helpful, and I'm happy to make another one.

Here's a quick review of sentence rhythm in American English.

When you listen to spoken English, you should hear a rhythm, like da-da-da-da-da-da.

Some syllables are longer, louder, and at a higher pitch.

And some syllables are shorter, softer, and at a lower pitch.

Here's an example of stressed and unstressed syllables in spoken English.

Let's listen to that sentence again and look closer at which words were stressed and which words were unstressed.

Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da.

Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da.

I just clapped to the beat of the stressed syllables.

In spoken English, only the stressed syllables get the beat.

They are the longest syllables, so they need to stand out from the other unstressed syllables.

The unstressed syllables are said faster, and they can be squeezed between the beats.

The words that are typically stressed are the content words.

These are the words that carry the meaning of the sentence, such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs.

These are usually stressed, but not always.

The words that are typically unstressed are called function words.

These are the words that carry the grammar of the sentence, such as pronouns, articles, prepositions, and conjunctions.

The best way to learn about English rhythm is to practice it.

So let's practice English rhythm together with the clapping exercise I demonstrated earlier.

I'm going to show you some sentences, and we're going to clap together to the beat of the stressed syllables.

Then, I'll say it again, and I'll clap to the beat of the stressed syllables.

Then, I'll replay my demonstration, and you'll have a chance to clap with me.

Now I'll do all of the sentences together.

May I have a coffee with cream and sugar?

Subtitles ListPlay Video

Master American English! Sentence Rhythm Part 2

content

accent

rhythm

demonstrate