stressed words. why?

[missmay]

I have to underline the stressed words and explain why.
I want to check my answers. Thank you very much!

• He telephoned the police yesterday.
• Can you show me the diamonds?
• Paul has gone to the theatre.
• Have you heard about Marcella? She’s won $50,000 on the lottery.
• I’m not doing anything this evening.

[Q.E.D.]

None of those has a definitive answer. Which word is stressed in a given sentence is nearly always strongly dependent upon context and the kind of information the speaker is trying to convey. Let's take your first sentence, "He telephoned the police yesterday" as an example:

He telephoned the police yesterday. Implies the action was taken by this specific individual, as opposed to someone else.

He telephoned the police yesterday. Conveys the sense that the telephone was used, rather than a different medium for communication, such as a personal visit.

He telephoned the police yesterday. Emphasizes that the police were called, rather than another agency, organization or individual.

He telephoned the police yesterday. Stresses the timing of the call to the police; yesterday rather than today, for instance.

[missmay]

Thank you for the reply!

So, can you stress 2 words at a time when you are speaking? For example, could I say "He telephoned the police yesterday"?

It sounds like I can underline any word I want... because like you said, it depends on the context. I think that is why this exercise is so confusing for me.

[rewboss]

You might stress 2 words in one sentence in certain, very rare cases. For example:

"So, you're saying that he faxed the CIA yesterday?"
"No, he telephoned the police yesterday."

In other words, when correcting two pieces or erroneous information in one sentence.

In all other cases, stressing two words in a short sentence like this would sound very unnatural.

[RonBee]

Originally Posted by missmay

I have to underline the stressed words and explain why.
I want to check my answers. Thank you very much!

• He telephoned the police yesterday.
• Can you show me the diamonds?
• Paul has gone to the theatre.
• Have you heard about Marcella? She’s won $50,000 on the lottery.
• I’m not doing anything this evening.

Q.E.D. is definitely right. However, these (IMO) are the most likely:

He telephoned the police yesterday.
Can you show me the diamonds?
Paul has gone to the theatre.
Have you heard about Marcella? She won $50,000 in the lottery.
I’m not doing anything this evening.

~R

[MikeNewYork]

Originally Posted by missmay

I have to underline the stressed words and explain why.
I want to check my answers. Thank you very much!

• He telephoned the police yesterday.
• Can you show me the diamonds?
• Paul has gone to the theatre.
• Have you heard about Marcella? She’s won $50,000 on the lottery.
• I’m not doing anything this evening.

The application of stress to words aften changes the meaning of the sentence. With your sentences, I agree with RonBee. Were I to read them aloud, I would stress the same words that he chose. This would be the default reading -- no specific reason to change the emphasis. Take the following simple sentence, in 7 variations.

I never said she stole my money.
I never said she stole my money.
I never said she stole my money.
I never said she stole my money.
I never said she stole my money.
I never said she stole my money.
I never said she stole my money.

Notice the dramatic changes in meaning.

[BobK]

Originally Posted by MikeNewYork

The application of stress to words aften changes the meaning of the sentence. With your sentences, I agree with RonBee. Were I to read them aloud, I would stress the same words that he chose. This would be the default reading -- no specific reason to change the emphasis. Take the following simple sentence, in 7 variations.

I never said she stole my money.
I never said she stole my money.
I never said she stole my money.
I never said she stole my money.
I never said she stole my money.
I never said she stole my money.
I never said she stole my money.

Notice the dramatic changes in meaning.

Also, stress can change things other than the focus of a sentence (as it does in Mike's case). Take this example:

Tom hit Dick and then Harry hit him [Dick gets hit twice]

But

Tom hit Dick and then Harry hit him [Tom and Dick each get hit once.]

The stress changes the meaning of 'him'.

b

[shalala]

hi Friends,
why are the stressed words in these sentences Marcella and lottery?
please help

Have you heard about Marcella? She won $50,000 in the lottery.

[rewboss]

For "Marcella", I'd say that it indicates a change of topic. Up until the previous sentence, we've been talking about (perhaps) Steve, but now the speaker wants to change the subject and talk about Marcella instead.

For "lottery", I'd say that it was indicating surprise. Perhaps Marcella doesn't usually do the lottery, or maybe the speaker finds it incredible because the chances of winning the lottery are so small.

Or again, it could be a change of topic. Maybe up until now we've been talking about Steve winning a talent contest. Now we're talking about Marcella winning the lottery, and that's two new pieces of important information.

The size of Marcella's winnings is obviously not important here. What makes this news newsworthy is the mere fact that Marcella won the lottery at all.

[shalala]

wouw it's fine.10xxx and I didn't exactly understand that why the stress word in this sentences is "anything"!
(or is it true that why "anything " is stressed : maybe I would have done something this evening,for example maybe I would go to the cinema but I decided not to go to the cinema,so I'm free, and I'm not doing anything this evening.... )

I’m not doing anything this evening.

ps:you know,my first language is not English,so sometimes this grammer subject is difficult to understand and translate in to Turkish.because for example :English grammer has 13 tenses,but Turkish grammer has 5 tenses.sometimes it is difficult for me to tell about it to my students.