In English, the general rule is that we stress content words, those words that carry meaning in a sentence (such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, negatives, etc.)

We then give the most emphasis to the focus word in a sentence or phrase. This is the word that the speaker determines is the most important to the meaning of the sentence.

Although the focus word is often:

the last content word in a group; or

new information,

native English speakers will use their voice to emphasize any word in a sentence to express a message. So, English speakers express messages and emotions just with the music of their voice, and without even saying any words!

Let’s practice how native English speakers emphasize different words in a sentence to change the underlying meaning and emotion.