Stress and Emphasis Change Meaning

See how stressing different words in the same sentence changes what it means.

Where you put stress in a sentence can change its meaning, even when every word stays the same. Take the sentence 'I didn't say you broke it. ' Stress 'I' and it means someone else said it. Stress 'say' and it suggests you implied it without saying it. Stress 'you' and it means someone else broke it. Stress 'broke' and it means you did something else to it, maybe just borrowed it. Writers sometimes show stress with italics, but usually readers must decide from context.

Ask: what is the point of this sentence in this moment? If a character has just been accused of breaking a vase, '*I* didn't break it' makes sense. Getting stress right is a sign of real comprehension, because you can only place it correctly if you understand what the speaker is trying to say. When reading aloud, choose the stressed word deliberately rather than leaving every word flat.

• 1Stressing different words changes a sentence's meaning
• 2Italics sometimes show stress; context usually decides
• 3Correct stress shows you understand the speaker's point