Episode description

Today we’re talking about stress, word stress. So in a sentence when you’re trying to put emphasis on a word, it can be a little confusing, it can be a little jarring. A little confusing right in the moment when you’re trying to communicate. Well, have you ever been caught stressing an adjective more than a noun? Like, maybe RED car or LARGE jacket.

• In a noun phrase, for example, red car, the noun will usually be more stressed or emphasized. In this case, the word car.
• In a compound noun that contains an adjective, for example, blackboard or black box, the adjective or the first word is usually stressed.
• The only time you stress an adjective more than a noun in a noun phrase is when you are clarifying or comparing. For example: I don’t like the RED jacket, I prefer the BLACK one.