In this American English pronunciation video, wer'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.
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. [x3]
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
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.