English Pronunciation Tip of the Day
Tip 81
Category:
Intonation
Author: JAM
Compound verbs and the nucleus
English has many compound verbs which consist of a verb plus a particle. One group consists of intransitive verbs. This means that they cannot take an object. Examples:
come round, fall off, sit down, turn up (= to arrive)
The usual pattern is for the intonation nucleus to fall on the particle and not on the verb:
My sister hasn't turned up yet.
Would you like to sit down?
Why are they always falling out?
More on this topic in a future tip.