Many non-native English speakers have never learned to use thought groups when they speak English. For some people this causes their speech too sound too fast for American listeners to understand. For other people the lack of thought groups causes their speech to sound very choppy to American listeners.

There are no solid rules for dividing longer sentences into thought groups. It really depends on the idea that you are trying to convey.

You will learn all about thought groups in spoken English in Judy Gilbert’s book, Clear Speech from the Start

Within each thought group we emphasize the content words, giving special stress to the focus word. After the focus word we pause briefly before the next thought group begins.

Many non-native English speakers fail to use thought groups when they speak English. For many people this causes their speech too sound too fast for American listeners to understand.

There are no solid rules for dividing longer sentences into thought groups. It really depends on the idea that you are trying to convey.

Here is a great lesson on thought groups in American English from the Voice of America.

This program teaches English pronunciation through carefully designed content. Words build to sentences using common everyday themes that contain the language you need to know to speak English effectively with friends and in the workplace.

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The words in a thought group receive different types of stress. The function words, such as articles and prepositions, are usually unstressed. The content words, usually nouns and verbs, are stressed. In each thought group there is also a very important word called the focus word. When we speak we give the most emphasis to the focus word.

We pause briefly between each thought group. This brief pause gives the listener a bit of time to process what we are saying.

Many non-native American English speakers have never learned to use thought groups when they speak English. For some people this causes their speech too sound too fast for American listeners to understand. For other people the lack of thought groups causes their speech to sound very choppy to American listeners.

There are no solid rules for dividing longer sentences into thought groups. It really depends on the idea that you are trying to convey. Using thought groups when you speak will help people to understand you more easily.

Judy Gilbert (one of the best known pronunciation teachers in the USA) teaches you how to use thought groups in spoken English in her book Clear Speech. You can look at the details by clicking on the link below.

Clear Speech from the Start Student’s Book with Audio CD: Basic Pronunciation and Listening Comprehension in North American English

However, learning to use American English stress and intonation patterns can really help you improve the way you speak. Stress and intonation patterns are often easier for students to learn and apply than individual sounds.

Here are a couple of key intonation patterns that you need to learn in order to improve your American English pronunciation.

1. Rising Intonation-When American English speakers ask questions that can be answered with a “yes” or “no” the pitch rises as their voices go up at the end of the question.

For example: Are you going to schOOL?   or   Do you like to eat french FRIES?

2. Falling Intonation-Alternately when American English speakers ask questions beginning with who, where, why, when and how the pitch lowers as their voices fall at the end of the question.

For example: Where is your HOMEwork?   or     When are they coming Over?

Before you buy a pronunciation or accent reduction course make sure that the course includes lessons on stress and intonation. These topics are sometimes overlooked but they make a huge difference in the way you speak American English.

One of the best book & CD sets for learning about American English intonation patterns is The American Accent Guide, by Beverly Lujan.
You can read about the book here.
The American Accent Guide, Second Edition: A Complete and Comprehensive Course on the Pronunciation and Speaking Style of American English for Individuals of All Language Backgrounds / book and 8 CDs

The reviews of this book are excellent!

Click here to watch a 6 minute video where Rachel of Rachel’s English describes content words in American English.

The “Learn to Use” section has video instructions that show you how to use Praat at home for language learning. There are also lessons on word and phrasal stress that demonstrate how Praat can be used to help you master these two key features of spoken English.

Free pronunciation recording software

Click on the link above to read my complete article on how Americans use sentence stress.

In spoken American English each sentence or phrase contains:

A Focus word-the most important word

Content words-very important for meaning

Function words-not important for meaning

Josef Essberger, the founder of the great website EnglishClub.com says that word stress and sentence stress are “the golden key” to English pronunciation. Many pronunciation teachers feel the same!

You can see some examples of sentence stress by reading this article in my Accent Reduction Classroom.

I frequently recommend English Club to my students who like to do extra pronunciation practice outside of class because I like the way they use easy to read charts to explain pronunciation concepts.