Using correct word stress

Using correct stress

Word stress

Words in English vary in length based on the number of syllables or

sounds they have. When a word has two or more syllables, one of them
is pronounced with an additional emphasis, and this is what is known as
word stress. Look at the following examples:

 car: this is a one syllable word and therefore the stress is on the
one syllable
 wa / ter: this is a two syllable word and the stressed syllable is
‘wa’
 ex /am / i / na / tion: this is a four syllable word and the fourth
syllable ‘na’ is stressed
Placing stress on the wrong syllable can lead to mispronounced words
and unclear speech.

You can improve how you use word stress by:

 listening to how native or proficient speakers of English pronounce

words. You can do this by speaking to native and proficient
speakers, regularly watching TV programs or listening to podcasts.
 using a dictionary. The stressed syllable is often preceded by the
symbol (‘). For example: about (/ə‘baʊt/); water (/‘wɔːtə(r)/)
In addition to these, you can also learn and implement the following
simple rules:

Tip: Record yourself reading the words aloud and applying the following
rules. Then play the recording to check your pronunciation.

Word stress rules

Rule 1 – Nouns, adjectives and adverbs with two syllables: In

most cases, the first syllable is stressed. For example:

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  Nouns: father, member, language, nature, centre Audio
 Adjectives: simple, local, awkward, lower, useful Audio
 Adverbs: maybe, often, kindly, weekly, always Audio
Rule 2 – Verbs and prepositions with two syllables: In most two-
syllable verbs and prepositions, the second syllable is stressed. For
example:

 Verbs: announce, contain, dislike, receive, include Audio

 Prepositions: among, without, unlike, behind, before Audio
Rule 3 – Nouns and verbs with two syllables: In some cases, one
single word can either be a noun or a verb, depending on where it is
placed within a sentence. Rules 1 and 2 above still apply.

 Nouns: discount, contrast, object, present, desert Audio

 Verbs: discount, contrast, object, present, desert Audio
Rule 4 – Nouns ending in -sion/-tion, -graphy, -ency/-ancy, -ity,
-logy: For multi-syllable nouns, you need to stress the syllable before
the endings -sion/-tion, -graphy, -ency/-ancy, -ity, -logy. For example:

 -sion/-tion: comprehension, position, addition Audio

 -graphy: geography, biography, demography Audio
 -ency-ancy: agency, tendency, pregnancy Audio
 -ity: responsibility, electricity, productivity Audio
 -logy: ideology, analogy, psychology Audio
Rule 5 – Adjectives ending in -ic, -ical, -tial/-cial, -tional: For
multi-syllable adjectives, you need to stress the syllable before the
endings -ic, -ical, -tial/-cial, -tional. For example:

 -ic: atomic, electronic, electric Audio

 -ical: classical, economical, grammatical Audio
 -tial/-cial: confidential, beneficial, commercial Audio
 -tional: intentional, national, optional Audio
Rule 6 – Verbs ending in -ify: For multi-syllable verbs, you need to
stress the syllable before the ending -ify. For example:

 satisfy, qualify, certify, diversify, notify Audio

Rule 7 – Compound words: In many compound words (i.e. words
made from two smaller words put together), the stress is on the first
part of the word. For example:

 bookshop, airport, sunglasses, traffic light, travel agent Audio

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https://www.futurelearn.com/info/courses/skills-for-the-pte-speaking-
test/0/steps/157541

Why Word Stress Matters

In her head, this sentence was understandable to Saskia:
“Dessert is my favorite thing!”
But when she said this to a friend, a native English speaker, he looked
confused and asked her:
“Why? It’s just sand and has no life. It could also be dangerous!”
Then it was Saskia’s turn to be puzzled. Can you guess the source of the
problem?
Well, the problem here is word stress. Saskia got the word
( “dessert” —the sweet heavenly thing) right, but she said it with the
emphasis in the wrong place and the word sounded like “desert” —a dry
perilous place.
This is just one example of how important word stress is to improving
your pronunciation and speaking English like a native speaker.
This guide will take you through the basics of
this pronunciation challenge and provide you with eight rules to start
doing it right. In addition to word stress, it is important to learn the
pronunciation of the English dialect you want to speak.
What Is Word Stress?

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In English, the individual sounds of a word (i.e. syllables—which we’ll
discuss in just a moment) aren’t pronounced with the same weight. One
syllable receives more emphasis than the others.
For example, there are three syllables in the word “beautiful” /BEAU-ti-
ful/ and the word stress falls on the first one /BEAU/.
Now that you have the definition of word stress, let’s dive deeper into
syllables to comprehend word stress.
Identifying syllables to understand word stress
A syllable is a unit of pronunciation that has one vowel sound. A word
might have one syllable (like “an” or “can”) or more, such as “po-lice”
(two syllables), “com-pa-ny” (three syllables) and “ne-ce-ssa-ry” (four
syllables).
Just for fun, do you know the English word with the most syllables?
The answer is “ antidisestablishmentarianism .” (The opposition of the
belief that there shouldn’t be an official church in a country.) The word
has 12 syllables!
Remember that syllables aren’t similar to letters. For example, “scratch”
has seven letters but one syllable, while “umami” has five letters but
three syllables.
Whatever the word, pay attention to the vowels because one of them
will be where you find the stress of a word.
Features of a stressed syllable
Now you know that you need to emphasize a particular vowel in a
specific syllable of a word. However, you might still wonder exactly how
to do so. Let’s take a look at a native speaker’s speech pattern.
When a native speaker stresses a syllable in a word, this is what they
do:

 Produce a longer vowel

 Raise the pitch of the syllable to a higher level

 Say the syllable louder

 Pronounce it with clarity

 Create a more distinctive facial movement

Don’t forget these five features next time you pronounce a word!
8 Word Stress Rules to Improve Your English Pronunciation
1. Nouns and adjectives with two syllables
The rule: When a noun (a word referring to a person, thing, place or
abstract quality) or an adjective (a word that gives information about a
noun) has two syllables, the stress is usually on the first syllable.
Examples:

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table /TA-ble/
scissors /SCI-ssors/
pretty /PRE-tty/,
clever /CLE-ver/
Exceptions: Unfortunately, there are exceptions to this rule. It could be
that a word was borrowed from another language or it could be totally
random. You just have to learn these “outsiders” by heart. Here are
three words you can start with:
hotel /ho-TEL/
extreme /ex-TREME/
concise /con-CISE/
2. Verbs and prepositions with two syllables
The rule: When a verb (a word referring to an action, event or state of
being) or a preposition (a small word that comes before a noun,
pronoun or the “-ing” form of a verb, and shows its relation to another
word or part of the sentence) has two syllables, the stress is usually on
the second syllable.
Examples:
become / be-COME
provide / pro-VIDE
aside /a-SIDE/
between /be-TWEEN/
3. Words that are both a noun and a verb
The rule: Some words in English can be both a noun and a verb. In
those cases, the noun has its word stress on the first syllable, and with
the verb, the stress falls on the second syllable.
If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll see that this rule is a derivation
from the prior two sections. However, this is a separate section since
these pairs of words are relatively common in English and they’re likely
to cause misunderstanding due to the same spelling.
Examples:
a present /PRE-sent/ (a gift) vs. to present /pre-SENT/ (give
something formally)
He gave me a present.
He presented the prize.
a suspect /SU-spect/ (someone who the police believe may have
committed a crime) vs to suspect /su-SPECT/ (to believe that
something is true, especially something bad)
The suspect was caught by the police.
They suspect him of a crime.
There are, however, exceptions to this rule. For example, the word
“ respect ” has a stress on the second syllable both when it’s a verb and
a noun.
4. Three syllable words ending in “er” and “ly”

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The rule: Words that have three syllables and end in “-er” or “-ly” often
have a stress on the first syllable.
Examples:
orderly /OR-der-ly/
quietly /QUI-et-ly/
manager /MA-na-ger/
5. Words ending in “ic,” “sion” and “tion”
The rule: When a word ends in “ic,” “sion” or “tion,” the stress is
usually on the second-to-last syllable. You count syllables backwards
and put a stress on the second one from the end.
Examples:
creation /cre-A-tion/
commission /com-MI-ssion/
photographic /pho-to-GRA-phic/
6. Words ending in “cy,” “ty,” “phy,” “gy” and “al”
The rule: When a word ends in “cy,” “ty,” “phy,” “gy” and “al,” the
stress is often on the third to last syllable. Similarly, you count syllables
backwards and put a stress on the third one from the end.
Examples:
democracy /de-MO-cra-cy/
photography /pho-TO-gra-phy/
logical /LO-gi-cal/
commodity /com-MO-di-ty/
psychology /psy-CHO-lo-gy/
7. Compound nouns
The rule: In most compound nouns (a noun made up of two or more
existing words), the word stress is on the first noun.
Examples:
classmate / CLASS-mate
armchair / ARM-chair
goldfish / GOLD-fish
8. Compound adjectives and verbs
The rule: In most compound adjectives (a single adjective made of
more than one word and often linked with a hyphen) and compound
verbs (a multi-word verb that functions as a single verb), the stress is
on the second word.
Examples:
old-fashioned /old-FA-shioned/
understand /un-der–STAND/

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