Chapter 6: Stress & Intonation

Without stress and intonation, we sound dull and lifeless – like a retro computer voice. Nostalgic, but not exactly proficient. They’re the heartbeat of language – enhancing comprehension, emphasizing important points, and infusing words with emotions.

Word Stress

The best way to grasp word stress is to say the English word record twice – almost like a broken record: once with the stress on the first syllable, as in record, and once with the stress on the second syllable, as in record. This simple shift in stress instantly turns the noun into a verb and changes its meaning – a party trick only linguists can truly appreciate.

Word stress is something we use instinctively, without even realizing. It’s one of those things we only notice when it’s absent, as it makes speech much harder to follow. To sound more natural, it's crucial to master word stress.

In native German words, the stress typically falls on the first syllable. Examples include geben (to give), Messer (knife), sehen (to see), and Vater (father). In one-syllable root words, the stress naturally lands on that single syllable. This pattern of stressing the first syllable is a feature inherited from early Germanic languages, which simplified the more variable stress patterns of their ancestor languages.

Intonation

Intonation refers to how we say things rather than what we say. It represents the rise and fall of pitch in spoken language. Unlike word stress, which is fairly rigid and operates at the word level, intonation is far more fluid and functions at the sentence level. 

German intonation can be described using just two tone levels: high and low. When combined, these tones create the distinct patterns that occur at the end of sentences to convey meaning, intent, and emotions.

The terminal fall, whereby the intonation falls at the end of a sentence, is the most common intonation pattern. It’s also commonly used in W-questions – those introduced by words beginning with w, such as wer (who), wie (how), was (what), and so on. In these cases, the terminal fall gives the question a neutral tone, neither overly polite nor impolite.