THE FLATMATES

Quiz:
Sentence stress
BBC Learning English – The Flatmates

The Flatmates – Quiz – Sentence stress

You can try the quiz online at:

http://www.bbclearningenglish.com/flatmates/epsiode61/quiz.shtml

For each of the six questions choose the one correct answer. The letters in CAPITALS
represent the stressed word/s.

1. In a neutral context which words are stressed?

a. HOW LONG have you been MARRIED?
b. How long HAVE you BEEN married?
c. How long have YOU been married?
d. HOW LONG have you been married?

2. In a neutral context which words are stressed?

a. CAN you make me a cup of tea?
b. Can you make me A cup OF tea?
c. Can you MAKE me a cup of TEA?
d. Can YOU make ME a cup of tea?

3. In a neutral context which words are stressed?

a. HE'S lived IN France AND Germany BUT not Spain.
b. He's lived in FRANCE and GERMANY but NOT SPAIN.
c. He's LIVED in France and Germany but not Spain.
d. He's LIVED in FRANCE and GERMANY but not SPAIN.

4. In which sentence does the speaker want to tell us that her flat isn't big?
a. SHE lives in a tiny flat in Manchester.
b. She lives in a TINY flat in Manchester.
c. She lives in a tiny FLAT in Manchester.
d. She lives in a tiny flat in MANCHESTER.

5. In which sentence does the speaker want to disagree with the previous speaker who
said "Is it true she can't swim?"
a. No, SHE can swim!
b. No, she can SWIM!
c. NO, she CAN swim!
d. NO, SHE CAN SWIM!

6. In which sentence does the speaker want to show her surprise about how much
sugar the other person takes in her coffee?
a. YOU want how many sugars?
b. You want HOW MANY sugars?
c. You WANT how many sugars?
d. You want how many SUGARS?

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The Flatmates – Quiz – Sentence stress

Answers

1. In a neutral context which words are stressed?

a. HOW LONG have you been MARRIED? – Correct – these are the words which
carry the most meaning so they are the ones we stress.
b. How long HAVE you BEEN married? - Wrong – we don't stress auxiliary verbs in a
neutral question like this.
c. How long have YOU been married? - Wrong – if the conversation was already about
married life, I might follow it by asking about your marriage, when I would stress
the word 'you' like this.
d. HOW LONG have you been married? - Wrong – if I didn't believe you've really been
married for 25 years (because you look so young), I might ask the question
stressing 'How long' like this.

2. In a neutral context which words are stressed?

a. CAN you make me a cup of tea? - Wrong – we don't stress auxiliary verbs in a
neutral request like this.
b. Can you make me A cup OF tea? - Wrong – we don't stress these words. Which
words carry the main meaning in this request?
c. Can you MAKE me a cup of TEA? – Correct – these are the words which
carry the most meaning in this request so they are the ones we stress.
d. Can YOU make ME a cup of tea? - Wrong – we don't stress pronouns in a
neutral request like this.

3. In a neutral context which words are stressed?

a. HE'S lived IN France AND Germany BUT not Spain. - Wrong – we don't stress these
non-content words. Which words carry the main meaning in this sentence?
b. He's lived in FRANCE and GERMANY but NOT SPAIN. - Wrong – if you wanted to
contradict someone who said he lived in all 3 of those countries, you might say
this stressing 'NOT' like this.
c. He's LIVED in France and Germany but not Spain. - Wrong – if you wanted to
contradict someone who said he went on holiday to those countries, you might say
this stressing 'lived' like this.
d. He's LIVED in FRANCE and GERMANY but not SPAIN. – Correct – these are
the words which carry the most meaning in this sentence so they are the
ones we stress.

4. In which sentence does the speaker want to tell us that her flat isn't big?
a. SHE lives in a tiny flat in Manchester. - Wrong – If you wanted to contradict
someone who said they both live in a small flat, you might say this stressing 'She'
like this.
b. She lives in a TINY flat in Manchester. – Correct – this is stressing how small
her apartment is.
c. She lives in a tiny FLAT in Manchester. - Wrong – this emphasizes she lives in an
apartment (rather than a house), not the size of her apartment.
d. She lives in a tiny flat in MANCHESTER. - Wrong – this emphasizes what city she
lives in not the size of her apartment.

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5. In which sentence does the speaker want to disagree with the previous speaker who
said "Is it true she can't swim?"
a. No, SHE can swim! - Wrong – this emphasizes that a girl (rather than a boy) can
swim.
b. No, she can SWIM! - Wrong – this emphasizes the swimming rather than her ability
to swim.
c. NO, she CAN swim! – Correct – this emphasizes that the speaker disagrees
with what the previous speaker said.
d. NO, SHE CAN SWIM! - Wrong – we don't usually stress every word in a sentence
(unless we are very angry).

6. In which sentence does the speaker want to show her surprise about how much
sugar the other person takes in her coffee?
a. YOU want how many sugars? - Wrong – it's the amount of sugar that the speaker
wants to emphasize. Which words highlight that?
b. You want HOW MANY sugars? – Correct – this emphasizes that the speaker
thinks the other person has a very sweet tooth!
c. You WANT how many sugars? - Wrong – it's the amount of sugar that the speaker
wants to emphasize. Which words highlight that?
d. You want how many SUGARS? - Wrong – this shifting stress means the speaker
thought she heard something other than "sugar". The speaker wants to emphasize
the amount of sugar. Which words highlight that?

Would you like to look at the language point that this quiz was based on? Go to:
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http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/flatmates/episode61/languagepoint.pdf

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