How to pronounce “at work unit”

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chance22

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View attachment At work unit.mp3
I just wonder which word should be stressed when you natives say the three words “at work unit” used as a topic. I'm inclined to stress the word “work”, as the first one recorded in the attachment, but some people disagree and point out that I should stress “unit”, as the way I pronuounced for the second time . So I want to know if I have been wrong. Would you help confirm it?
 
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Rover_KE

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The thread title doesn't match the phrase quoted in the body of the text.

Please write a full sentence containing the phrase you want task about.
 

GoesStation

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I understand that the phrase At Work Unit is intended as a heading. It's hard to think of a context in which this would be natural. The phrase your post originally asked about, The Work Unit, is possible. If you decide to use this as your topic, you should stress "Work".

Please tell us something about the text this is meant to fit into.
 

chance22

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I understand that the phrase At Work Unit is intended as a heading. It's hard to think of a context in which this would be natural. The phrase your post originally asked about, The Work Unit, is possible. If you decide to use this as your topic, you should stress "Work".

Please tell us something about the text this is meant to fit into.
It's the heading for one unit about oral expressions that we may come across when at certain work unit like office, company, etc.
 

GoesStation

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It's the heading for one unit about oral expressions that we may come across when at certain work unit like office, company, etc.
It's not necessary or natural to use the word "unit" in the title, with one exception I'll get to in a moment. Just title it At Work. If you number the units, you can say (for example) Unit Three: At Work.
 

chance22

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It's not necessary or natural to use the word "unit" in the title, with one exception I'll get to in a moment. Just title it At Work. If you number the units, you can say (for example) Unit Three: At Work.
If I use "work unit" in a sentence like "This is about what an individual should behave in a work unit", does it sound natural?
 

GoesStation

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If I use "work unit" in a sentence like "This is about what an individual should behave in a work unit", does it sound natural?
"Work unit" would be natural if it's a term used in the enterprise. The sentence doesn't work, though. Do you mean how an individual should behave? Or I wonder whether you want to say something like "We will now discuss tasks an individual should complete in each work unit." That's just a guess, though.
 

jutfrank

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You seem to be confused here, chance 22. There is no such thing as a 'work unit'.

The title of the unit from the book is At Work. You can't refer to this unit as 'At Work unit'.
 

chance22

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You seem to be confused here, chance 22. There is no such thing as a 'work unit'.

The title of the unit from the book is At Work. You can't refer to this unit as 'At Work unit'.
t
I didn't realize working place can be referred to as work unit until I began to learn some oral expressions from one app. It gives each topic a heading and this is one of them. But then I searched on the internet to find one explanation.http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/work-unit.html .Is this reliable? That's something I'm not sure about.
 

GoesStation

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The linked definition is accurate. But the heading At Work Unit is not meaningful, nor is it grammatical even by the relaxed standards that apply to titles.
 

jutfrank

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t
I didn't realize working place can be referred to as work unit until I began to learn some oral expressions from one app. It gives each topic a heading and this is one of them. But then I searched on the internet to find one explanation.http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/work-unit.html .Is this reliable? That's something I'm not sure about.

Okay, I see. But I still don't understand your question. Why do you want to talk about work units as a 'topic'? What do you mean by 'topic'? And why are you trying to use the preposition at? According to the definition, a 'work unit' is a thing, not a place. The preposition at is a preposition of place.
 

Charlie Bernstein

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I've worked in dozens of offices, mostly in the northeast of the US, and I've never heard the phrase "at work unit."

I don't know what it means or how it's used, so I can't tell you which word to stress.

Even without "at," I've never heard a workplace called a work unit. Maybe people do call it that in some places. But adding "at" just renders it meaningless. Maybe a work unit is an employee. (But the phrase still wouldn't make sense.)

It would make sense if you got rid of "unit." We all know what "at work" means.

It would also make sense if you added a word, like "at your work unit" or "at a work unit." Or even "at work as a unit."

But that's not what the recording says. Your source might not be reliable.
 
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chance22

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The linked definition is accurate. But the heading At Work Unit is not meaningful, nor is it grammatical even by the relaxed standards that apply to titles.
OK, I got it. Then would you possibly give me an example of when to use work unit naturally in everyday conversation?
 

emsr2d2

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For me, it can refer only to a physical working space within a bigger space or a specific group of people who have been put together to work on the same project.

Our office space is about 500m[SUP]2[/SUP] - it's divided up into ten individual work units.
There are 1000 employees here, separated into twenty work units of 50, each working on a different aspect of the business.

I can't think of any context in which "at work unit" is possible. In response to your specific query, I wouldn't use "work unit" in everyday conversation.
 

chance22

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I've worked in dozens of offices, mostly in the northeast of the US, and I've never heard the phrase "at work unit."

I don't know what it means or how it's used, so I can't tell you which word to stress.

Even without "at," I've never heard a workplace called a work unit. Maybe people do call it that in some places. But adding "at" just renders it meaningless. Maybe a work unit is an employee. (But the phrase still wouldn't make sense.)


It would make sense if you got rid of "unit." We all know what "at work" means.

It would also make sense if you added a word, like "at your work unit" or "at a work unit." Or even "at work as a unit."

But that's not what the recording says. Your source might not be reliable.

Actually that is from an oral English learning app providing many possible expressions and sentences on different occasions. There is a heading for every different occasion, such as "at home",---- with expressions from getting up to going out for work; "seeing a doctor", "making a phone", as well as expressions that can be used in office, which is entitled "at work unit", meaning "in a workplace". If the heading is changed to "at the work unit", or "at the work units", is it acceptable? or does it still sound unnatural?
 
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GoesStation

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Actually that is from an oral English learning app providing many possible expressions and sentences on different occasions. There is a heading for every different occasion, such as "at home",---- with expressions from getting up to going out for work; "seeing a doctor", "making a phone", as well as expressions that can be used in office, which is entitled "at work unit", meaning "in a workplace". If the heading is changed to "at the work unit", or "at the work units", is it acceptable? or does it still sound unnatural?

Drop the word "unit". It isn't natural. The title "At Work" is perfect.
 
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emsr2d2

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As you must have realised by the length of this thread and our constant repetition of this fact, "At Work Unit" is wrong. It doesn't matter if it's a section title or used in a sentence. It's just wrong. They should have used "At Work" or "At/In The Workplace".
 
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