The rhythm of English. Every language has its own rhythm, its own pattern of syllables, and beats. Some languages have a very even rhythm with about the same amount of time and emphasis for each syllable. English isn't like that. Some syllables last longer and are emphasized more, and others are short, and much weaker. These stressed and unstressed syllables form a rhythmic pattern. In English, stressed words and syllables are stronger and last longer. Unstressed syllables become soft and weak and have to squeeze in between the stress syllables. Listen to this example. The end of the year is always a busy time for us. You can hear that some syllables are emphasized more than others. How do we know which word should get more stress? Words that carry lots of meaning, called content words, usually get more stress. These include nouns like book, car, decision, and honesty. Main verbs, like run, eat, decide, think, and appear. Adjectives like big, cold, expensive, and decisive. Adverbs like quickly, silently, often easily. Question words like who, what, where, when, and why. Small grammar words usually have less stress. These include prepositions like in, for, to, under, with, and onto. Articles, like a, an, and the. Conjunctions, like and, but, so because, and after. Pronouns like he, she, it, I, you, them, her, and him. Helping verbs like do, be, have, can, should, and might. In this example, the end of the year is always a busy time for us. And, year, always, busy, and time are content words. They get more stress than the other words. The, of, the, is, for, and us are grammar words. They get less stress than the other words. When you listen to poems or rhymes, you can easily hear the rhythm of English, as in this famous children's poem. Notice how stressed and unstressed syllables alternate to make the rhythm. Twinkle, twinkle, little star. How I wonder what you are. Up above the world so high. Like a diamond in the sky. Getting the rhythm right helps speakers sound more natural and be understood more easily. It's an important part of the music of English pronunciation.