Read Aloud counts towards both Reading and Speaking, so time spent on it pays off twice. Here are the rules from the Read Aloud lessons on one page: sense groups, stress, linking, unreleased stops and what to do with an unfamiliar word.
Four Signals for Sense Groups
- Punctuation: always pause at commas, semicolons and dashes.
- Before a prepositional phrase: you can pause before phrases like "in the past decade" or "according to the report".
- Between subject and verb: when the subject is long, a short pause before the verb is fine.
- Before a conjunction: you can pause before and, but, because and which.
Using the Preparation Time
Per Pearson's PTE Core Score Guide, you get 40 seconds to prepare. Check the latest official guide for current timings. Use them like this:
- Scan the text once and mark where you'll pause.
- Circle any words you're unsure how to say.
- Don't try to read the whole text silently. There isn't time.
Before you start, count "one" in your head to leave half a second. It makes a stumble on the first words less likely. Worked examples of phrasing and pace are in Read Aloud basics; practise on Read Aloud questions.
Stress Content Words, Soften Function Words
| Word type | How to say it | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, numbers (content words) | Stress them: lengthen the stressed syllable and say it a little louder | mammal, altered, greatly, huge |
| Prepositions (in, of, to, for...) | Weak form, pass over quickly | of → /əv/, to → /tə/ |
| Conjunctions (and, but, that...) | Weak form, no pause, no stretching | and → /ən(d)/ |
| Pronouns (it, them, his...) | Weak form unless you mean to stress them | them → /ðəm/ |
| be and auxiliary verbs (is, are, has...) | Weak form: reduce the vowel only, don't turn it into a contraction | is → /ɪz/, are → /ə(r)/, has → /həz/ |
Three Kinds of Linking
- A consonant followed by a vowel (the most common): check it out → che-cki-tout; find out → fin-dout
- The same or similar consonants meet (they merge into one sound): big game → bi-game; with them → wi-them
- Linking r (especially clear in British English): far away → fa-raway; for a → fo-ra
Unreleased Stops
The rule: when a stop sound (/p b t d k g/) is directly followed by another consonant, you shape the first sound with your mouth but don't release the burst of air. Move straight on to the next consonant. The self-test for whether you need this is in Read Aloud stress, linking and sounds.
| Phrase | How it sounds |
|---|---|
| great weight | grea(t) weight: /t/ comes before the consonant /w/, so the t isn't released |
| good boy | goo(d) boy: /d/ comes before the stop /b/, so the /d/ is only shaped |
| designed for | designe(d) for: /d/ comes before the consonant /f/, so the d isn't released |
| that time | tha(t) time: /t/ comes before /t/, so the first one isn't released, just held a beat longer |
You don't need to memorise lists of words. Just remember: a stop followed by a consonant gets half a beat. If the next sound is a vowel, it isn't dropped. It links instead, as in find out → fin-dout.
Three Steps for Unfamiliar Words
- During the preparation time, circle the new word and quietly work out a rough pronunciation in your head.
- Sound it out from the spelling without hesitating (for example, -tion is /ʃən/ and -sion is /ʒən/). It's better to get a word slightly wrong by the rules than to stop and think.
- Give yourself permission to get one word wrong. One mispronounced word won't ruin the item, but a pause hurts Fluency far more than one inaccurate word.