Word Stress and -ING Verbs

In this American English pronunciation video, we’re going to go over the word stress of -ing verbs. The -ing form of a verb always adds an extra syllable. And this syllable is always unstressed. So it should be lower in pitch and usually a little faster than the stressed syllable in the word. Take,for example,’standing’ Stand-ing, stand-ing. Standing. Be careful with words like ‘seeing’ or ‘being’. The difference between ‘seeing’ and ‘sing’ is subtle. But — ee-ee, ee-ee, ee-ee — there is that little reemphasis of the vowel sound that makes the second syllable, which is correct. Seeing, seeing. seeing.

So even in quick, everyday speech,in the context of a sentence, it needs to sound different. I’m seeing her later. I’m singer later. I’m seeing her later, I’m singer later. Seeing , seeing.

Let’s look at some more -ing verb words. Doing, do-ing, do-ing. Doing. Following. Fol-low-ing. Following. Hoping. Hop-ing, hop-ing. Hoping. Wondering. Won-der-ing, won-der-ing. Wondering.

Word stress is important. So make sure that you do have this contrast between stressed syllables and unstressed syllables. And keep in mind that the -ing form of a verb always adds an unstressed syllable.

That’s it, and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English.

Don’t stop there. Have fun with my real-life English videos, or get more comfortable with the IPA in this playlist. Learn about the online courses I offer, or check out my latest video.

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