How to assign sentence stress    

Distinguish between: LEXICAL WORDS (content words, open-class items): nouns, adjectives, adverbs, lexical verbs STRUCTURAL WORDS (functional words, closed-class items):prepositions, pronouns, auxiliary verbsSentence-stress is assigned as follows: Sentence stress falls on the STRESSED SYLLABLES of all lexical words:'sort, ob'jection, re'ceive, Mc'Cartney Stuctural words may carry sentence-stress if emphasised in some way:When cited: How do you spell "than"?Comparative emphasis: "I don't think I can /k n/ do it"-"But I think you can /'kæn/ do it" Polysyllabic structural words may carry sentence-stress:un'til, be'hind Adverbs are usually stressed, even if they are technically structural words:She 'jumped 'off the 'tableIt's 'too 'late to 'change our 'minds Adverbs of position carry sentence stress:I'm 'not 'coming 'here a'gainI 'left it 'over 'there Demonstratives are stressed:'This 'book is 'really 'worth 'reading'That's the 'stupidest i'dea I ve 'ever 'heard Negatives are stressed:I'm 'not 'coming 'here a'gainWe 'can t ex'pect 'everythingI 'hope you  'won t  be an'noyed