ID703 Thought Groups

When they talk, native speakers don't pause between each word that they say.

• True

• False

Pauses within spoken sentences separate groups of words called _______.

• thought groups

• emphatic stress

• suprasegmental phonemes

• sneezes

Native speakers naturally divide spoken English into thought groups ...

• so you cannot interrupt them.

• so the language is easier to understand.

• to trick you.

• because English is syllable-timed.

Native speakers do not follow any patterns with thought grouping.

• True-English is too crazy!

• False-there is variety from person to person, but there are some patterns!

'Bring me coffee.' would usually be...

• one thought group. (Bring me coffee.)

• two thought groups. (Bring me / coffee.)

Longer sentences and questions are usually ...

• one thought group.

• divided into more than one thought group.

Individual thought groups may contain one of the following grammatical elements: (check ALL correct answers)

• noun phrases

• verb phrases

• prepositional phrases

• relative clauses

"Try again." <--This is a ______.

• noun phrase

• verb phrase

• prepositional phrase

• relative clause

"There aren't many restaurants in my neck of the woods." <--This is a ______.

• noun phrase

• verb phrase

• prepositional phrase

• relative clause

"A mischievous child lives in that house." <--This is a ______.

• noun phrase

• verb phrase

• prepositional phrase

• relative clause