The tonic accent.
With all the parts we have seen before, we have learned to pronounce the different
sounds. We also saw the different spellings of one and the same sound and we even talked
about linking and elision.
But we still have an essential element to have the tonic accent.
What is it?
It is this emphasis, this stress, the strength or duration of a syllable that will
give you that French accent that is closest to a native speaker.
Otherwise, you might as well talk like a robot.
When and how to stress a syllable?
The tonic accent is used to delimit a group of words.
It usually affects the last syllable and is done by lengthening the last syllable of the
word group and raising its pitch a bit.
Let's look at a few examples together une maison, a house, a house, a furnished house,
un cadeau, a poisoned gift.
The tonic accent is also easy to recognize thanks to the punctuation.
The comma or period indicates the lengthening of the last syllable of the word.
For example.
That day, very early in the morning, I saw my father.
To help you, the lengthening consonants appear on the screen.
In this one closes a syllable, , one lengthens the duration.
Example Rose fort sève.
Please note that when we talk about the final syllable, we are referring to the
syllable pronounced and not written.
Don't forget that there is a silent E.
For example, in Father and Rose, the final is not pronounced, so the stressed syllable
is father and not pè reuh, since the final is not pronounced.
Now it's up to you.
Read the sentences that will appear on the screen first and I will give you the
correction right after.
This morning he
came. The children came
home very early.
The pink dress is
mine. Well done this lesson on the tonic accent is now over.