RM C1 Pronunciation Worksheets TNs
RM C1 Pronunciation Worksheets TNs
RM C1 Pronunciation Worksheets TNs
C1 Teacher’s Guide
Many speech units have two stressed (or ‘prominent’) Compound nouns are usually stressed on the first noun,
syllables, the first of which has a level tone and the second though there are exceptions.
of which carries or begins the main intonation movement. In items 7 and 8 in this exercise, social media and social
For example: I’m afraid I don’t know – fraid has a level networking are adjective + noun phrases with stress on the
(neither rising nor falling) tone and know typically has a noun, so the compounds are social media + platforms and
falling tone. social networking + sites.
If there are unstressed syllables after the second stress,
the intonation movement continues through these. For INTONATION IN INFINITIVE PHRASES
example, in Let’s take a look at it, the intonation movement
4 b 1 To be fair,
begins on look and covers look at it.
2 To make matters worse,
3 To cap it all,
Lesson 1B Online/Offline 4 To begin with,
5 To cut a long story short,
LINKING 6 To put it bluntly,
2 a 1 As more ͜ and more people wade ͜ in, a simple 7 To be perfectly honest,
disagreement can quickly spiral ͜ out ͜ of control. 8 To come back to my earlier point,
/r/, cv, cv, cv Infinitive phrases at the beginning of a sentence form a
2 The ͜ information ͜ is missing, and ͜ our ͜ anger quickly speech unit separate from the rest of the sentence, with
gets ͜ out ͜ of hand. either one or two stresses. (See Exercise 1: Speech units.)
/j/, cv, cv, /r/, cv, cv The second (or the only) stress typically has (or begins) a
3 We ͜ assume they’re ͜ impervious to normal ͜ emotions. fall-rise intonation.
/j/, /r/, cv For example:
4 We naturally ͜ organise ͜ ourselves ͜ into ͜ online communities To be honest, … – The fall-rise begins on hon- and
with people ͜ of similar ͜ opinions. continues through -est.
/j/, cv, cv, /w/, cv, /r/ To put it mildly, … – put has a level tone; the fall-rise begins
The final sound of one word is often linked to the first on mild- and continues through -ly.
sound of the following word. There are four types of link:
• consonant-vowel (formally known as ‘catenation’) –
e.g. get ͜ irritated, giving the impression of tirritated.
• /j/ between vowels – e.g. we ͜ assume
There is actually no /j/ added, but there is the
impression of /j/ in the transition between the vowels.
• /w/ between vowels – e.g. so ͜ angry
There is actually no /w/ added, but there is the
impression of /w/ in the transition between the vowels.
INTONATION: If only …
5 a 1 If only we had more time.
2 If only we could do something.
3 If only you’d clean your room more often.
4 If only they’d help us a bit.
5 If only it was as simple as that.
Sentences beginning with If only … typically have a first
stress on only and a second stress later in the sentence
with a falling intonation.
a vowel sound – for example in wearing /ˈweərɪŋ/ but Lesson 7D English in action
not in wear /weə/.
Linking /r/ where there is no letter r in the spelling, e.g. SPEECH UNITS: unstressed syllables
law ͜ r ͜ and order, is sometimes criticised as ‘intrusive’, but
in terms of pronunciation, law ͜ r ͜ and and more ͜ r ͜ and are 5a 1 chosen by a vote
examples of the same phenomenon. 2 chosen by a show of hands
Generally speaking, in most of North America, Scotland 3 as eloquently as possible
and Ireland, the letter r is pronounced wherever it is 4 as eloquently and coherently as possible
written, so there is no ‘linking r’ phenomenon. 5 short-stay hotels
6 short-stay bed-and-breakfasts
STRESS IN IDIOMS 7 under greater pressure
8 under greater and greater pressure
2 b 1 the great outdoors 9 priceless treasures
2 get away from it all 10 priceless architectural treasures
3 steer clear of it
4 the back of beyond b 1 3 2 5 3 4 4 9 5 2 6 3 7 1 8 4 9 1 10 6
5 as the crow flies There is sometimes a long sequence of unstressed syllables
6 jaw-dropping beauty between two stressed syllables, as in sentences 2, 4 and
7 meeting people as you go 10. (See also Unit 2 Exercise 2.) Depending on the speed
8 if that’s your thing and casualness of the pronunciation, the unstressed
9 off the beaten track sequences can become compressed to the extent that the
10 with no mod cons number of audible syllables is reduced.
These phrases are examples of single speech units – see
Unit 1 Exercise 1.
UNIT 8
Lesson 7B It’s a scam!
Lesson 8A We all do it
t and d
3 a 1 ✗ I bought ten cameras. STRESS IN IDIOMS
2 ✗ I’d been taken in. 1 b 1 It had me in stitches.
3 ✓ When it comes to retirement, it pays to be sure. 2 I had butterflies in my stomach.
4 ✗ Start making money in minutes. 3 He saw red.
5 ✓ We congratulate ourselves. 4 I felt on top of the world.
6 ✗ Retirement funds. 5 I wanted the ground to swallow me up!
7 ✗ I asked to withdraw £5,000. 6 Don’t make a fool of yourself.
8 ✗ They found themselves heavily in debt. 7 She was over the moon.
/t/ and /d/ are often elided (not pronounced) or 8 They were up in arms.
assimilated (change under the influence of adjacent In these and many other idioms, the stress pattern is
sounds), especially between other consonants. One effect important, because a different pattern can undermine the
of this can be to eliminate the difference between present idiomatic meaning and even have an unintended comic
and past verb forms – for example: effect.
I ask to … I asked to …
Lesson 8B Pivotal moments
Lesson 7C Skills for life
WORD STRESS
RISES AND FALLS IN QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
2 b basically Ooo imminent Ooo
4 a 1 No time to go shopping? No problem. breakthrough Oo inconsequential oooOo
2 Need a shoulder to cry on? Just give us a call. colonists Ooo lament oO
3 Hate washing? We’ll do it for you. consequences Oooo
quandary Oo
4 Got a puncture? Just drop your bike off at the repair shop. envisaged oOo revolutionise ooOoo
5 Computer illiterate? We’ll help you learn the basics. hindsight Oo subsequently Oooo
6 Any questions or comments? Just let us know. hurricane Ooo threshold Oo
When people ask a rhetorical yes/no question and
immediately answer it themselves, they often use a rising
tone in the question and a falling tone in the answer.