When Americans speak they divide longer sentences into sections called thought groups.
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.
Tags: Accent Reduction for Indians, Accent Reduction Techniques, American English Pronunciation, Sentence stress, thought groups
