Page 43 - DENG401_Advance Communication Skills

Advanced Communication Skills

Notes
Example:

That was a difficult test. - Standard statement
That was a difficult test. - Emphasizes how difficult the test was
There are a number of adverbs and modifiers which tend to be used to emphasize in sentences
that receive emphatic stress.

extremely
terribly
completely
utterly

especially
etc.
Contrastive Stress
Contrastive stress is used to point out the difference between one object and another. Contrastive
stress tends to be used with determiners such as 'this, that, these and those'.

Example:
I think I prefer this color.
Do you want these or those curtains?

Contrastive stress is also used to bring out a given word in a sentence which will also slightly
change the meaning.
1. He came to the party yesterday. (It was he, not someone else.)

2. He walked to the party yesterday. (He walked rather than drove.)
3. He came to the party yesterday. (It was a party not a meeting or something else.)
4. He came to the party yesterday. (It was yesterday not two weeks ago or some other time.)
New Information Stress
When asked a question, the requested information is naturally stressed more strongly.

Example:
Where are you from? - I come from Seattle, in the USA.
What do you want to do? - I want to go bowling.
When does class begin? - The class begins at nine o’clock.
Rising Intonation- Is Answerable by Yes or No

1. Is Jonathan a carpenter?
2. Is your father handsome?
3. Can you sing?

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