ABSTRACT
If you stress the wrong words in sentences, this might lead to confusion as to what the speaker is trying to forefront. Imagine that the boxed words in the following two sentences carry stress: I am cycling home / I am cycling home . It should be clear that there is a difference between the two sentences. The first version might refute the suggestion that you will not be cycling home, and the second version may be a way to place emphasis on you cycling home rather than, perhaps, walking home. An issue that often occurs is that no clear stress is placed on any specific word in a sentence. In that case, it is unclear whether attention should be paid to a specific aspect of the sentence. If you say I am so happy that you’re here without any of the words stressed, that doesn’t sound like you are very happy; I am so happy that you’re here or I am so happy that you’re here , with stress on so or you , will probably bring across the message better. A wrong sentence stress may thus also signal the wrong mood, or inadvertently suggest an absence of a mood.
