This page shows the way in which the meaning of a word can change if you stress a different syllable. This change only happens with a few, specific words, many of which are listed here — it doesn’t apply to all words in the English language. Most of the words are two syllables long — there are just a few examples with three syllables.
The examples fall into two categories:
- Those which keep the same general meaning, but which change from noun to verb when the stress moves from the first to the second syllable.
- Those which change their meaning completely — most of them change from noun to verb, but a few change to an adjective.
1. Change from noun to verb, same general meaning:
| addict | ADD-ict | Rob is a crack cocaine ADD-ict. (Rob is a person who uses crack cocaine and cannot stop doing it) |
| add-ICT | If you keep playing that game, you will get add-ICT-ed to it! (you will become an addict) |
| conflict | CON-flict | The two friends were in CON-flict. (didn’t agree about something) |
| con-FLICT | Your two accounts of what happened con-FLICT. (your stories don’t agree with each other) |
| contest | CON-test | He is taking part in a boxing CON-test. (a fighting competition) |
| con-TEST | I’m sorry, I have to con-TEST your figures. (I can’t agree with your figures) |
| contrast | CON-trast | There’s quite a CON-trast between their political views. (a big difference) |
| con-TRAST | I will compare and con-TRAST these two poems. (show the differences between them) |
| convert | CON-vert | He is a CON-vert to Buddhism. (he has changed his religion) |
| con-VERT | I’m sorry, you will never con-VERT me. (you will never persuade me to change my beliefs/opinions) |
| decrease | DE-crease | There has been a DE-crease in sales recently. (we have sold less than usual) |
| de-CREASE | We need to de-CREASE the number of children in the class to make it more effective. |
| import | IM-port | Coffee is an IM-port from Brazil. (coffee is brought here from Brazil) |
| im-PORT | We would like to im-PORT more coffee over the next few years. |
| increase | IN-crease | There has been an IN-crease in accidents recently. (there have been more accidents) |
| in-CREASE | We need to in-CREASE our sales figures. (sell more) |
| insult | IN-sult | What she said felt like an IN-sult. (she said something bad) |
| in-SULT | Please don’t in-SULT me(don’t say bad things to me) |
| perfect | PER-fect | Your homework is PER-fect. (it has no mistakes in it) |
| per-FECT | We need to per-FECT our design before we can put this new product on the market. (we need to improve it) |
| permit | PER-mit | Do you have a PER-mit to drive this lorry?. (document giving permission) |
| per-MIT | Will you per-MIT me to park my car in front of your house? (allow me) |
| pervert | PER-vert | Niharika is a PER-vert. (she has strange sexual preferences) |
| per-VERT | The man was arrested on a charge of attempting to per-VERT the course of justice. (interfering with the proper workings of the legal process) |
| present | PRES-ent | She gave me a nice PRES-ent on my birthday.(gift) |
| pre-SENT | Allow me to pres-ENT my friend, David. (introduce) |
| produce | PRO-duce | They sell all kinds of PRO-duce at the market. (fruit and vegetables) |
| pro-DUCE | How did the magician manage to pro-DUCE a rabbit from his top hat? (bring out) |
| protest | PRO-test | There was a political PRO-test going on in the street. (demonstration) |
| pro-TEST | I had to pro-TEST about the dirty state of the kitchen. (complain) |
| recall | RE-call | The actor was given a RE-call. (called back, invited for a second audition) |
| re-CALL | I can’t re-CALL the first time I rode a bicycle. (remember) |
| record | RE-cord | She always keeps a RE-cord of what she spends every month. (note) |
| re-CORD | It’s important to re-CORD how much you spend every month. (make a note of) |
| reject | RE-ject | The item in this box is a RE-ject. (not good enough to sell) |
| re-JECT | We have decided to re-JECT the building proposal as it would have cost too much money. (turn down, say no to) |
| suspect | SUS-pect | The police interviewed the SUS-pect for five hours, but then let him go. (someone they thought might have committed a crime) |
| sus-PECT | I sus-PECT that tree will have to be cut down, before it falls and causes some damage. (have a feeling, think, imagine) |
2. Change from noun to verb or noun to adjective, different meaning:
| address | AD-dress | Do you know Valen’s AD-dress? (where she lives) |
| ad-DRESS | You do not have permission to ad-DRESS President Harkonnen! (to speak to him directly) |
| attribute | AT-trib-ute | Dishonesty is a common ATT-rib-ute of politicians. (a trait/characteristic) |
| at-TRIB-ute | That quote is at-TRIB-u-ted to Winston Churchill. (considered to be first said/created by him) |
| conduct | CON-duct | We aren’t happy about your general CON-duct. (the way you’re behaving) |
| con-DUCT | I was asked to con-DUCT the orchestra at short notice. (coordinate a musical performance by waving a baton) |
| console | CON-sole | I spend too much time at my computer CON-sole. (screen and controls) |
| con-SOLE | She was so unhappy, I was unable to con-SOLE her. (make her feel better) |
| content | CON-tent | The CON-tent of your essay is fine, but you need to rearrange the structure. (what it contains) |
| con-TENT (adj.) | She was sitting reading a book, looking very con-TENT. (relaxed, peaceful) |
| converse | CON-verse | Do you think firm A is more successful than firm B? I think the CON-verse is true. (opposite) |
| con-VERSE | He can con-VERSE in three different languages. (have conversations) |
| default | DE-fault | The DE-fault settings of that TV are bad, but you can configure it differently. (the settings it comes with it when you get it) |
| de-FAULT | Jon de-FAULT-ed on his loan payments. (he did not make the required payments) |
| desert | DES-ert | The army marched through the DES-ert. (eg Sahara) |
| des-ERT | I wouldn’t advise you to des-ERT the army, as it will get you into trouble. (leave without permission) |
| entrance | EN-trance | The EN-trance to the building was locked. (way in) |
| en-TRANCE | Are you trying to en-TRANCE me? (hypnotise me, put me into a trance) |
| exploit | EX-ploit | He’s always talking about some EX-ploit from his war years. (exciting experience, adventure) |
| ex-PLOIT | Some companies ex-PLOIT their staff by expecting them to work overtime for no extra pay. (take advantage of) |
| extract | EX-tract | She read me an EX-tract from her new novel. (short section) |
| ex-TRACT | The dentist says he needs to ex-TRACT one of my teeth. (remove, pull out, take out) |
| invalid | IN-val-id | After his accident he was an IN-val-id for nearly a year, but he’s ok again now. (was disabled, had mobility problems) |
| in-VAL-id (adj.) | I’m sorry, your passport is in-VAL-id, as it expired two months ago. (can’t be used) |
| object | OB-ject | What is that OB-ject over there? (thing) |
| ob-JECT | Would anyone ob-JECT if I opened a window? (complain) |
| project | PRO-ject | This PRO-ject should be completed next month. (piece of work) |
| pro-JECT | We could pro-JECT the film onto that blank wall. (show, display) |
| refuse | REF-use | We have our REF-use collected on a Thursday. (rubbish, garbage) |
| re-FUSE | Chocolate cake? How can I re-FUSE! (say no) |
| subject | SUB-ject | What is the SUB-ject of today’s lesson? (topic) |
| sub-JECT | Oh dear, our teacher is going to sub-JECT us to another test. (impose on us, make us endure) |
English orthography is often ambiguous. For example, the word “read” can be pronounced either /riːd/ (“reed”) or as /rɛd/ (“red”) depending on whether it refers to the present or the past tense.
There is a large class of such words characterized by ambiguity in stress placements. When a word can be stressed on two different syllables, stress placement determines the part of speech of the word (e.g. whether it is a verb or a noun). As a rule of thumb, if the stress is on the second syllable, the word is usually a verb.
Here’s a fairly exhaustive list of such words, with pronunciation given in the international phonetic alphabet (in which stress is indicated by a small vertical line, similar to an apostrophe). Note that the abbreviations “US” and “UK” indicate whether the preceding pronunciation refers to American or British English:
absent; /ˈæbsənt/ (ADJECTIVE) means “not present”; /æbˈsɛnt/ (VERB) is mostly used in the phrase “to absent yourself” meaning “not to go to a place where one is expected to be”.
accent; /ˈæksənt/ (NOUN) is the way people in a particular area speak; /əkˈsɛnt/ (VERB) (MOSTLY UK) means “to emphasize” (it is often pronounced the same as the noun in American English).
addict; /ˈædɪkt/ (NOUN) is a person addicted to something (such as heroin); /əˈdɪkt/ means “to cause someone to become addicted”.
address; /ˈædrɛs/ (NOUN) (US ONLY) is the name of the place where you live; /əˈdrɛs/ (VERB) means “to direct a speech to someone” (in the UK, both meanings are usually pronounced /əˈdrɛs/).
affect; /əˈfɛkt/ (VERB) means “to influence”; /ˈæfɛkt/ (NOUN) is used in psychology for “a subjective feeling experienced in response to a stimulus”.
affix; /ˈæfɪks/ (NOUN) is a grammatical term for a group of letters added to a root word; /əˈfɪks/ (VERB) means “to attach”.
alloy; /ˈælɔɪ/ (NOUN) is a mixture of metals; /əˈlɔɪ/ (VERB) means “to mix metals”.
ally; /ˈælaɪ/ (NOUN) is a country that supports another country; /əˈlaɪ/ (VERB) means “to give your support to another country”.
attribute; /ˈætrɪbjuːt/ (NOUN) is a characteristic of something; /əˈtrɪbjuːt/ (VERB) means “to express that something was created by someone”.
combine; /kəmˈbaɪn/ (VERB) means “to bring together”; /ˈkɒmbaɪn/ UK, /ˈkɑːmbaɪn/ US (NOUN) is a shorter name for a “combine harvester”.
commune; /ˈkɒmjuːn/ UK, /ˈkɑːmjuːn/ US (NOUN) is a group of people living together and sharing responsibilities; /kəˈmjuːn/ (VERB) is used in “commune with somebody” which means “to silently share emotions with somebody”.
compact; /ˈkɒmpækt/ UK, /ˈkɑːmpækt/ US (ADJECTIVE) means “including many things in a small space”; /kəmˈpækt/ (VERB) means “to compress”.
complex; /ˈkɒmplɛks/ UK, /ˈkɑːmplɛks/ US (NOUN) is a (psychological) problem or a collection of buildings; in some dialects (both in British and American English) the adjective “complex” meaning “not simple” is pronounced as /kəmˈplɛks/; in others, it is pronounced the same as the noun.
compound; /ˈkɒmpaʊnd/ UK, /ˈkɑːmpaʊnd/ US (NOUN) is a thing consisting of two or more separate parts (or an adjective describing such a thing); /kəmˈpaʊnd/ (VERB) means “to make something that is already bad become even worse”, usually used in the passive as “to be compounded”. “To be compounded” can also mean “to be formed from”.
compress; /kəmˈprɛs/ (VERB) means “to press or squeeze together”; /ˈkɒmprɛs/ UK, /ˈkɑːmprɛs/ US (NOUN) is a piece of cloth applied to a body part to reduce pain (a cold compress), reduce muscle fatigue (a warm compress) etc.
conduct; /kənˈdʌkt/ (VERB) means “to manage, carry on” (e.g. “to conduct a meeting”) or “to lead” (e.g. “to conduct an orchestra). /ˈkɒndʌkt/ UK, /ˈkɑːndʌkt/ US (NOUN) is a person’s behaviour.
confine(s); /kənˈfaɪn/ (VERB) means “to keep somebody or something within certain limits”; /ˈkɒnfaɪnz/ UK, /ˈkɑːnfaɪnz/ US (NOUN) is used only in the plural and means “limits, borders” (for example “confines of human knowledge”).
conflict; /ˈkɒnflɪkt/ UK, /ˈkɑːnflɪkt/ US (NOUN) means “a disagreement”; /kənˈflɪkt/ (VERB) means “to be incompatible with”.
conscript; /ˈkɒnskrɪpt/ is someone who compulsorily joined the armed forces of a country; /kənˈskrɪpt/ means “to become a conscript”.
conserve; /kənˈsɜːv/ UK, /kənˈsɝːv/ US (VERB) means “to use as little as possible” (e.g. “to conserve energy”) or “to protect something from being destroyed” (e.g. “to conserve wildlife”); /ˈkɒnsɜːv/ UK, /ˈkɑːnsɝːv/ US (NOUN) is synonymous with “whole fruit jam”. Unlike in other languages, it isn’t synonymous with a can (an aluminium container).
console; /ˈkɒnsəʊl/ UK or /ˈkɑːnsoʊl/ US (NOUN) is “a cabinet (often for a TV) designed to stand on the floor” or “a device for playing video games”; /kənˈsəʊl/ UK or /kənˈsoʊl/ US (VERB) means “to make someone feel better”.
consort; /ˈkɒnsɔːt/ UK, /ˈkɑːnsɔːrt/ US (NOUN) is used mainly in “the queen consort”, meaning “the wife of a king”, and “the prince consort”, meaning “the husband of a queen” (rarely also “the king consort”), and sometimes also “the princess consort”, meaning “the wife of a prince”; /kənˈsɔːt/ UK, /kənˈsɔːrt/ US means “to spend time in someone’s company”, usually meant contemptuously, for example “the duke consorted with prostitutes”.
construct; /kənˈstrʌkt/ (VERB) means “to build”; /ˈkɒnstrʌkt/ UK or /ˈkɑːnstrʌkt/ US (NOUN) is something constructed or a concept.
consult; /kənˈsʌlt/ (VERB) means “to seek opinion or advice”; /ˈkɒnsʌlt/ UK, /ˈkɑːnsʌlt/ US (NOUN) is an obsolete term meaning a decision or an agreement, or, in the US, also “a visit” (e.g. to a doctor).
content; /ˈkɒntɛnt/ UK, /ˈkɑːntɛnt/ US (NOUN) is “the contained material”; /kənˈtɛnt/ (ADJECTIVE) means “satisfied” (it can also be a verb meaning “to satisfy”).
contest; /ˈkɒntɛst/ UK, /ˈkɑːntɛst/ US (NOUN) is a competition; /kənˈtɛst/ (VERB) is used in “to contest something” which means “to take part in something in order to win”, or it can mean “to formally oppose something”, for example “to contest a will”.
contract; /ˈkɒntrækt/ UK, /ˈkɑːntrækt/ US (NOUN) is an official agreement; /kənˈtrækt/ (VERB) is the opposite to “expand”, or it can mean “to get an illness” (e.g. “to contract AIDS”).
contrast; /ˈkɒntrɑːst/ UK, /ˈkɑːntræst/ US (NOUN) is “a difference in brightness”; /kənˈtrɑːst/ UK, /kənˈtræst/ US (VERB) means “to show the difference” (in some US dialects, both meanings are pronounced as the noun given here).
converse; /kənˈvɜːs/ UK, /kənˈvɝːs/ US (VERB) means “to have a conversation”; /ˈkɒnvɜːs/ UK, /ˈkɑːnvɝːs/ US (NOUN) is the opposite or reverse of something.
convert; /kənˈvɜːt/ UK, /kənˈvɝːt/ US (VERB) means “to change something from one form to another”; /ˈkɒnvɜːt/ UK, /ˈkɑːnvɝːt/ US (NOUN) is a person who changed his or her religion.
convict; /kənˈvɪkt/ (VERB) means “to find someone guilty in court”; /ˈkɒnvɪkt/ UK, /ˈkɑːnvɪkt/ US (NOUN) is a person who has been convicted.
decrease; /dɪˈkriːs/ (VERB) means “to become smaller”; /ˈdiːkriːs/ (NOUN) is “a reduction”.
defect; /dɪˈfɛkt/ (VERB) is used in “to defect from” which means “to leave a group to join an enemy”, for example “to defect from a political party before elections”; /ˈdiːfɛkt/ (NOUN) is a fault that makes something imperfect (but the same pronunciation as for the verb is also common).
desert; /ˈdɛzət/ UK, /ˈdɛzɚt/ US (NOUN) is a large area of dry land; /dɪˈzɜːt/ UK, /dɪˈzɝːt/ US (VERB) means “to abandon something”.
detail; /ˈdiːteɪl/ (NOUN) is “something small or negligible enough”; in the US, /dɪˈteɪl/ is a verb meaning “to explain in detail” (in the UK the verb sounds the same as the noun).
dictate; /dɪkˈteɪt/ (VERB) means “to say something for someone else to write down” (for example “to dictate a letter to a secretary”) or “to tell somebody what to do”; /ˈdɪkteɪt/ (NOUN) is a rule that one must obey.
digest; /daɪˈdʒɛst/ or /dɪˈdʒɛst/ means “to change food to a form the body can use” (e.g. “humans cannot digest grass”) or “to think about something in order to understand it”; /ˈdaɪdʒɛst/ (NOUN) is a short report containing the most important information.
discard; /dɪsˈkɑːd/ UK, /dɪsˈkɑːrd/ US means “to get rid of something one no longer needs”; /ˈdɪskɑːd/ UK, /ˈdɪskɑːrd/ US (NOUN) is a thing no longer wanted and thrown away (usually in a card game).
discharge; /dɪsˈtʃɑːdʒ/ UK, /dɪsˈtʃɑːrdʒ/ US (VERB) means “to release” (for example, “to discharge someone from a hospital” means “to give him official permission to leave”); /ˈdɪstʃɑːdʒ/ UK, /ˈdɪstʃɑːrdʒ/ US (NOUN) is the act of releasing, for example “a discharge of toxic waste”.
discount; /ˈdɪskaʊnt/ (NOUN) is the amount of money which something costs less than usual; /dɪsˈkaʊnt/ (VERB) means either “to reduce price of something” or “to dismiss, to consider something unimportant”, as in “we cannot discount the possibility of further attacks” (in the US, the verb is sometimes pronounced the same as the noun).
discourse; /ˈdɪskɔːs/ UK, /ˈdɪskɔːrs/ US (NOUN) is a serious discussion; /dɪsˈkɔːs/ UK, /dɪsˈkɔːrs/ US (VERB) means “to talk long about a subject you know well”.
escort; /ɪˈskɔːt/ UK, /ɪˈskɔːrt/ US (VERB) means “to go with somebody in order to protect or guard them”; /ˈɛskɔːt/ UK, /ˈɛskɔːrt/ US (NOUN) is a person or a group of people who escort somebody.
essay; /ˈɛseɪ/ (NOUN) is a short piece of writing by a student; /ɛˈseɪ/ (VERB) is a literary term meaning “to try to do”.
excise; /ɪkˈsaɪz/ (VERB) means “to remove completely”; /ˈɛksaɪz/ is a tax on specific goods.
exploit; /ɪkˈsplɔɪt/ (VERB) means “to use someone or something for your own advantage”; /ˈɛksplɔɪt/ (NOUN) is a brave or interesting act.
export; /ɪksˈpɔːt/ UK, /ɪksˈpɔːrt/ US (VERB) means “to sell goods to a foreign country”; /ˈɛkspɔːt/ UK or /ˈɛkspɔːrt/ US (NOUN) is “something that is exported”.
extract; /ɪksˈtrækt/ (VERB) means “to get something out of something else”; /ˈɛkstrækt/ (NOUN) is “something extracted”.
ferment; /fəˈmɛnt/ UK, /fɚˈmɛnt/ US (VERB) means “to experience a chemical change because of the action of yeasts”; /ˈfɜːmɛnt/ UK, /ˈfɝːmɛnt/ US (NOUN) is a state of political and social confusion and excitement (for example a country can be in ferment).
frequent; /ˈfriːkwənt/ (ADJECTIVE) means “happening often”; /friˈkwɛnt/ (VERB) means “to visit often”.
gallant; /ˈgælənt/ (ADJECTIVE); a man is gallant if he gives polite attention to women; /gəˈlænt/ (NOUN) is an old-fashioned term for a man that is gallant (it is sometimes also pronounced the same as the adjective).
impact; /ˈɪmpækt/ (NOUN) is “a forceful collision”; /ɪmˈpækt/ (VERB) means “to affect”.
implant; /ɪmˈplɑːnt/ UK, /ɪmˈplænt/ US (VERB) means “to fix firmly” or “to insert into the body”; /ˈɪmplɑːnt/ UK, /ˈɪmplænt/ US (NOUN) is “something surgically implanted in the body”.
import; /ɪmˈpɔːt/ UK, /ɪmˈpɔːrt/ US (VERB) means “to bring a product from another country to one’s own country”; /ˈɪmpɔːt/ UK, /ˈɪmpɔːrt/ US (NOUN) is the act of importing a product (or the product itself).
impress; /ɪmˈprɛs/ (VERB) means “to make someone feel admiration for you”; /ˈɪmprɛs/ (NOUN) is the act of impressing.
imprint; /ˈɪmprɪnt/ (NOUN) is a mark made by stamping something onto a surface; /ɪmˈprɪnt/ (VERB) means “to have a great effect on something”.
incense; /ˈɪnsɛns/ (NOUN) is a substance producing a pleasant smell when it is burning (it is often used in churches, for example); /ɪnˈsɛns/ (VERB) means “to get somebody very angry”.
incline; /ɪnˈklaɪn/ (VERB) means “to behave in a particular way”; /ˈɪnklaɪn/ (NOUN) is a slope.
increase; /ɪnˈkriːs/ (VERB) means “to become larger”; /ˈɪnkriːs/ (NOUN) is “an amount by which something increased”.
indent; /ɪnˈdɛnt/ (VERB) means “to start a line of text further from the edge than other lines”; /ˈɪndɛnt/ (NOUN) is an official order for goods or equipment.
inlay; /ɪnˈleɪ/ (VERB) means “to decorate the surface of something by putting pieces of wood or metal into it in such a way that the resulting surface remains smooth”; /ˈɪnleɪ/ (NOUN) is a pattern of such a decoration.
insert; /ɪnˈsɜːt/ UK, /ɪnˈsɝːt/ US (VERB) means “to put something into something else”; /ˈɪnsɜːt/ UK, /ˈɪnsɝːt/ US (NOUN) is usually an extra section added to a newspaper or magazine (but it can mean something that is put into something else in general).
insult; /ɪnˈsʌlt/ (VERB) means “to offend someone”; /ˈɪnsʌlt/ (NOUN) is an action intended to be rude.
interchange; /ˈɪntətʃeɪndʒ/ UK, /ˈɪntɚtʃeɪndʒ/ US (NOUN) is the act of sharing or exchanging something; /ˌɪntəˈtʃeɪndʒ/ UK, /ˌɪntɚˈtʃeɪndʒ/ US (VERB) means “to share or exchange ideas”.
intern; /ɪnˈtɜːn/ UK, /ɪnˈtɝːn/ US (VERB) means “to put somebody in prison during a war without charging them with a crime”; /ˈɪntɜːn/ UK, /ˈɪntɝːn/ US (NOUN) is a student of medicine working at a hospital to get further experience.
invalid; /ɪnˈvælɪd/ (ADJECTIVE) is the opposite of “valid”; /ˈɪnvəlɪd/ or /ˈɪnvəliːd/ (NOUN) is a person that needs others who take care of him or her. The latter pronunciation can also be a verb meaning “to force somebody to leave armed forces because of injury”.
invite; /ɪnˈvaɪt/ (VERB) means “to ask somebody to come to a social event”; /ˈɪnvaɪt/ is an informal word for “invitation”.
mismatch; /ˈmɪsmætʃ/ (NOUN) is a combination of things that do not go well together; /ˌmɪsˈmætʃ/ (VERB) means “to fail to match”.
object; /ˈɒbdʒɪkt/ UK or /ˈɑːbdʒɪkt/ US (NOUN) is a thing or the goal of something; /əbˈdʒɛkt/ (VERB) means “to disagree with something”.
overlap; /ˌəʊvəˈlæp/ UK, /ˌoʊvɚˈlæp/ US (VERB); if two things overlap, part of one thing covers part of the other; /ˈəʊvəlæp/ UK, /ˈoʊvɚlæp/ US (NOUN) is a shared area (between two objects).
overlay; /ˈəʊvəleɪ/ UK, /ˈoʊvɚleɪ/ US (NOUN) is something put on top of something else; /ˌəʊvəˈleɪ/ UK, /ˌoʊvɚˈleɪ/ US (VERB) means “to put something on top of the surface of something else”.
perfect; /ˈpɜːfɪkt/ UK, /ˈpɝːfɪkt/ US (ADJECTIVE) means “excellent; precise”; /pəˈfɛkt/ UK or /pɚˈfɛkt/ US (VERB) means “to make perfect”.
permit; /pəˈmɪt/ UK, /pɚˈmɪt/ US (VERB) means “to allow”; /ˈpɜːmɪt/ UK, /ˈpɝːmɪt/ US (NOUN) is an official document that gives somebody the right to do something.
pervert; /ˈpɜːvɜːt/ UK, /ˈpɝːvɝːt/ US (NOUN) is someone whose sexual behaviour is considered unacceptable; /pəˈvɜːt/ UK, /pɚˈvɝːt/ US (VERB) means “to change something in a bad way”.
present; /ˈprɛzənt/ is either an adjective meaning “relating to now” or “located in the vicinity” or a noun meaning either “the current period of time” or “a gift”; /prɪˈzɛnt/ is a verb meaning “to show”.
proceed(s); /prəˈsiːd/ UK, /proʊˈsiːd/ US (VERB) means “to continue doing something”; /ˈprəʊsiːdz/ UK, /ˈproʊsiːdz/ US (NOUN) is used only in the plural form as “proceeds of” meaning “revenue from”, e.g. “proceeds of the concert went to charity”.
produce; /prəˈdjuːs/ UK, /prəˈduːs/ US (VERB) means “to make or grow something”; /ˈprɒdjuːs/ UK, /ˈprɑːduːs/ or /ˈproʊduːs/ US (NOUN) means “things that have been produced”, usually in connection with farming.
progress; /ˈprəʊgrɛs/ UK or /ˈprɑːgrɛs/ US (NOUN) means “a development of something”; /prəˈgrɛs/ (VERB) means “to advance”.
project; /ˈprɒdʒɛkt/ UK, /ˈprɑːdʒɛkt/ US (NOUN) is “something that is planned”; /prəˈdʒɛkt/ (VERB) means “to plan something”.
protest; /ˈprəʊtɛst/ UK, /ˈproʊtɛst/ US (NOUN) is an expression of disagreement with something; /prəˈtɛst/ (VERB) means “to express disagreement” (it can also be pronounced the same as the noun in the US).
purport; /pəˈpɔːt/ UK, /pɚˈpɔːrt/ US (VERB) is used especially in “purport to be something” which means “to claim to be something”; /ˈpɜːpɔːt/ UK, /ˈpɝːpɔːrt/ US (NOUN); the “purport of something” is “the general meaning of something”.
rebel; /rɪˈbɛl/ (VERB) means “to fight against an authority”; /ˈrɛbəl/ (NOUN) is someone who rebels against something.
recoil; /rɪˈkɔɪl/ (VERB) means “to move quickly backwards or away from something”; /ˈriːkɔɪl/ (NOUN) is a sudden movement backwards.
record; /ˈrɛkɔːd/ UK, /ˈrɛkɚd/ US (NOUN) is “an information put into a physical medium” or “the extreme value of an achievement (in sport)”; /rɪˈkɔːd/ UK, /rəˈkɔrd/ US (VERB) means “to make a recording of something”.
refill; /ˌriːˈfɪl/ (VERB) means “to fill something again”; /ˈriːfɪl/ (NOUN) is something used to refill a container; also, it means “another drink of the same type”.
refund; /ˈriːfʌnd/ (NOUN) is a sum of money to be paid back; /rɪˈfʌnd/ (VERB) means “to give somebody back their money for something they bought”.
refuse; /rɪˈfjuːz/ (VERB) means “disallow something”; /ˈrɛfjuːs/ (NOUN) is waste material.
reject; /rɪˈdʒɛkt/ (VERB) means “to refuse something”; /ˈriːdʒɛkt/ (NOUN) is something that cannot be used because it is faulty or someone who is not considered member of a team, society etc.
remake; /ˈriːmeɪk/ (NOUN) is a new version of an old film or song; /ˌriːˈmeɪk/ (VERB) means “to create a remake”.
reprint; /ˌriːˈprɪnt/ (VERB) means “to print (usually a book) again without changes”; /ˈriːprɪnt/ (NOUN) is a book that has been reprinted.
retake; /ˌriːˈteɪk/ (VERB) is used especially in military; it means “to take control of something (e.g. a town) again”; /ˈriːteɪk/ (NOUN) is the act of filming a scene again, because the first take was not good enough.
retard; /rɪˈtɑːd/ UK, /rɪˈtɑːrd/ US (VERB) means “to make something progress slower”; /ˈriːtɑːd/ UK, /ˈriːtɑːrd/ US (NOUN) is a slang term for a mentally retarded person.
segment; /ˈsɛgmənt/ (NOUN) is a part of something (and also a geometric figure consisting of two points connected by a straight line); /sɛgˈment/ (VERB) means “to divide into segments”.
subject; /ˈsʌbdʒɪkt/ or /ˈsʌbdʒɛkt/ (NOUN) is a thing or person being discussed (it can also be an adjective used in “subject to something” which means “to be affected by something”); /səbˈdʒɛkt/ (VERB) means “to bring a country under control” (for example “Germany subjected most of Europe during WWII”); “to be subjected to something” means “to be affected by something”.
survey; /ˈsɜːveɪ/ UK, /ˈsɝːveɪ/ US (NOUN) is finding opinions of people by asking questions; /səˈveɪ/ UK, /sɚˈveɪ/ US (VERB) means “to look carefully at something”.
suspect; /səˈspɛkt/ (VERB) means “to think that somebody or something is guilty of something without having a definite proof”; /ˈsʌspɛkt/ (NOUN) is a person who is suspected of a crime.
torment; /tɔːˈmɛnt/ UK, /tɔːrˈmɛnt/ US (VERB) means “to make somebody suffer”; /ˈtɔːmɛnt/ UK, /ˈtɔːrmɛnt/ US (NOUN) is extreme suffering.
transfer; /trænsˈfɜːr/ UK, /trænsˈfɝː/ US (VERB) means “to move from one place to another”; /ˈtrænsfɜːr/ UK, /ˈtrænsfɝː/ US (NOUN) is the act of moving somebody from one place to another.
transplant; /trænsˈplɑːnt/ UK, /trænsˈplænt/ US (VERB) means “to take an organ from one organism and put it into another”; /ˈtrænsplɑːnt/ UK, /ˈtrænsplænt/ US (NOUN) is either an operation during which a an organ is transplanted or the organ that is being transplanted.
transport; /trænˈspɔːt/ UK, /trænˈspɔːrt/ US (VERB) means “to take something from one place to another”; /ˈtrænspɔːt/ UK, /ˈtrænspɔːrt/ US (NOUN) is a system for carrying people or things from one place to another.
traverse; /trəˈvɜːs/ UK, /trəˈvɝːs/ US (VERB) means “to cross an area”; /ˈtrævɜːs/ UK, /ˈtrævɝːs/ US (NOUN) is a term used in mountain climbing and means “an act of moving across a steep slope”.
update; /ˌʌpˈdeɪt/ (VERB) means “to bring something up to date”; /ˈʌpdeɪt/ (NOUN) is a report that gives the most recent information on something; in computing it means also a package containing improvements for a software.
upgrade; /ʌpˈgreɪd/ (VERB) means to “make something better or more advanced”; /ˈʌpgreɪd/ (NOUN) is the new part that makes it better.
uplift; /ˌʌpˈlɪft/ (VERB) means “to make somebody feel happier”; /ˈʌplɪft/ (NOUN) is the act of something being raised.
upset; /ʌpˈsɛt/ (VERB) means “to make somebody feel unhappy” (it is also an adjective meaning “unhappy or angry”); /ˈʌpsɛt/ (NOUN) is a situation connected with difficulties.
Have you noticed that Americans and Brits pronounce words quite differently?
You might be able to hear that some vowel sounds are completely different. After all, vowel sounds do vary quite a lot between regional dialects.
And you might notice different consonants, especially when we’re talking about the American “r” versus the British pronunciation of “r,” or the American flap “t” versus the British clear pronunciation of the “t” sound.
But as far as I’m concerned, the most noticeable difference between the two accents has to do with the way certain words are stressed, and that’s what we’re going to focus on.
You’ll learn 30 words that are stressed differently in American and British English.
Word Stress in British and American English
When trying to identify differences between the American and British pronunciations of certain words, pay attention to the placement of the primary stressed syllable.
Remember, when we stress a word, we make one syllable longer, louder and higher in pitch. This also makes the vowel sound in this word extremely clear and easy to hear.
If you stress the wrong syllable, the word will sound off and be a little hard to understand, even if you pronounce the rest of the word correctly.
This means if you’re stressing a word the British way, it may confuse an American who’s not that familiar with British English.
Believe me, I understand how frustrating it can be to have to choose an accent when you’re trying to learn a language, but you want to make sure you focus on the pronunciation and the stress that is most related to your life.
In the video, I share both the American and British stress patterns.
But as you’ll notice, I don’t really pronounce the words the way a native speaker of British English would say them!
The other thing I want to point out is that many of these words have roots in French. They’re what we call loanwords from French.
The British version of these words is pronounced the way it would be according to English spelling.
The American version is a pronunciation that sounds more French, even though it is still Anglicised, or converted into American English pronunciation.
I know my French friends will probably be cringing at the way we pronounce these words, but that’s how it is. ?
So let’s get started!
- address
- adult
- advertisement
- ballet
- brochure
- buffet
- caffeine
- café
- chauffeur
- cliché
- debris
- debut
- décor
- detail
- donate
- fiancé(e)
- garage
- gourmet
- ice cream
- magazine
- matinee
- migrate
- montage
- nonchalant
- premature
- princess
- rotate
- sachet
- salon
- vaccine
- weekend (oops… I guess there were 31 words!)
1. address
The first word we’re going to look at today is the word “address.”
In British English, the word would be pronounced AD-dress, with stress on the second syllable: ad-DRESS, ad-DRESS.
In American English, the word will be pronounced AD-dress, AD-dress, with stress on the first syllable.
I have to point out that you will hear Americans as well as Brits use both pronunciations of this word, but it’s more common in British English to say AD-dress and it’s more common in American English to say ad-DRESS.
In the US, the stress on the word will change depending on whether it’s a noun or a verb.
If we’re talking about someone’s address on an envelope (noun), we’re going to stress the first syllable.
If we are going to take the action to address an envelope (verb), we’re going to stress the second syllable.
However, it is more common that you’ll hear Americans say ad-DRESS.
2. adult
Next, let’s talk about the word “adult.” In British English, this word is pronounced a-DULT.
In American English, this word is generally pronounced A-dult, A-dult.
However, like the previous example, you will hear people use both pronunciations of that word.
(In fact, I tend to use a-DULT more than A-dult!)
The reason I mix the pronunciations of “adult” and “adult” may have to do with the fact that I’m from the New England/Boston area, and we have closer ties to the Brits. That’s just a possible explanation!
So once again, the American version of this word is A-dult, A-dult.
3. advertisement
Next, let’s look at a word that is so different in American English and British English. I’m talking about the word “advertisement.”
In British English, this word would be pronounced ad-VER-tise-ment, ad-VER-tise-ment.
In American English, we pronounce it AD-ver-tise-ment, AD-ver-tise-ment.
(Please note that you may also hear Americans pronounce it ad-ver-TISE-ment, ad-ver-TISE-ment, with secondary stress on the first syllable.)
As you can hear, the stress in the American version is on the first syllable. In the British version, the stress is on the second syllable, and it really changes the way the word sounds.
Like I said at the beginning, when we change the stress of a word, it can really change the way the vowel sound is understood.
That’s why word stress really brings out those differences between the pronunciation of vowels in British and American English.
4. ballet
Next, let’s look at a word that we’ve taken from French: ballet.
In British English, the word would be pronounced BAL-let, BAL-let, with stress on the first syllable.
Americans would pronounce the word bal-LET, bal-LET. Like I said earlier, we make the words sound a little more French by stressing it on the second syllable: ballet, ballet.
Obviously it’s still an American version of a French word, but it’s pronounced a little closer to the French than the British version.
5. brochure
Here’s another example: brochure.
In British English, this word would be pronounced BRO-chure, BRO-chure.
In American English, the word would be pronounced bro-CHURE, bro-ChURE. As you can hear, once again the stress is on the second syllable.
6. buffet
Here’s another French inspired word: buffet.
In British English, the word would be pronounced BUF-fet, BUF-fet, with stress on the first syllable.
In American English, the word would be stressed on the second syllable: buf-FET, buf-FET.
Can you hear the difference between the stress patterns on these words?
7. caffeine
Next, let’s look at the word “caffeine,” everybody’s favorite if you like drinking tea or coffee!
In British English, the word would be stressed on the first syllable: CAF-feine, CAF-feine.
In American English, the word is stressed on the second syllable: caf-FEINE, caf-FEINE.
You can clearly hear the difference between the two pronunciations!
That’s a word that really confuses me when I hear it pronounced in the British English version. I’m so used to hearing people talk about needing caffeine!
8. café
Similarly, let’s talk about the word “café.”
In British English, the word is stressed on the first syllable: CA-fé, CA-fé.
In American English, the word is stressed on the second syllable: ca-FÉ, ca-FÉ.
You can remember the American English version because we usually include a little accent mark on the “e”: café.
Pay attention to this stress pattern on words coming from French.
This will help you remember to stress these words correctly when you’re speaking American English.
9. chauffeur
Next, let’s look at the word “chauffeur.”
In British English, the word is said CHAUF-feur, CHAUF-feur.
In American English, the word is pronounced chauf-FEUR, chauf-FEUR.
As you can see, we’re shifting the stress to the end of the word: chauf-FEUR. Big difference, right?
10. cliché
Let’s move on to “cliché,” which is obviously another loanword that we’ve taken from French!
The British pronounce it CLI-ché, CLI-ché. Americans pronounce it cli-CHÉ, cli-CHÉ.
Once again, you can use the accent mark at the end of the word in order to remind you where the stress should be.
11. debris
Next, let’s talk about a word that I find really confusing with the British English pronunciation: debris.
In British English, this word would be pronounced DE-bris, DE-bris.
When I first heard this word, I didn’t really understand what it meant in British English, because we pronounce it de-BRIS, de-BRIS
As you can hear, it’s completely different, because we use the schwa in the American version, and the British pronounce the “de” really clearly, so that it sounds like the word “day.”
Once again, the American version is de-BRIS. We’re stressing the word on the second syllable.
12. debut
Now we can look at the word , debut. In British English, the word would be stressed on the first syllable: DE-but, DE-but.
In American English, the stress would be on the second syllable: de-BUT, de-BUT.
Once again, this is another loanword from French and you can hear Americans stress that second syllable.
Listening for this stress pattern will help you recognize and pronounce words that appear to have similar roots.
13. decor
Moving on, let’s talk about decor, décor.
In British English, the word would be pronounced DE-cor, DE-cor.
In American English, the word is pronounced de-COR, de-COR.
You’ll sometimes hear some Americans who know that it comes from French say “décor,” with a clear vowel sound on the unstressed syllable, but they’ll still stress that second syllable.
However, I usually reduce the “de” to a schwa sound: de-COR.
14. detail
Moving on, let’s look at the word “detail.”
In British English, they tend to pronounce it DE-tail, DE-tail. In American English, we tend to pronounce itde-TAIL, de-TAIL.
However, like other words in these examples, you will hear both pronunciations.
I tend to use “DE-tail,” and that may have to do, like I said, with the fact that I’m from New England, and we have closer ties to our British friends.
Similarly, you may hear the same person use a different pronunciation depending on whether the part of speech is a noun or verb.
15. donate
Next, let’s look at the word “donate.”
In British English, the word would be pronounced do-NATE, do-NATE. In American English, we pronounce the word DO-nate, DO-nate.
In this case, the stress is on the first syllable: DO-nate.
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16. fiancé(e)
Next, let’s talk about the word fiancé, or fiancée.
In British English, they tend to stress the second syllable and pronounce it with a much better French accent: fi-AN-cé(e), fi-AN-cé(e).
In American English, we tend to stress the last syllable: fi-an-CÉ, fi-an-CÉE.
I have to say I tend to pronounce it with stress on the second syllable: fi-AN-cé. Once again, that may have to do with my New England background!
You will find that there are different regional pronunciations of words, and that people have strong opinions about their preferred pronunciation!
Learn in my video on 10 Words I Have Trouble Pronouncing in English.
17. garage
Up next is a word that is very hard for me to pronounce in British English because it’s very different than the American version: the word “garage.”
The British stress this word on the first syllable, and they tend to really emphasize the difference in sound: GA-rage, GA-rage.
In American English, we say ga-RAGE, ga-RAGE.
And if you hear an actual Brit pronounce the word, you’ll probably notice a BI difference between how Americans pronounce the “r” and how British pronounce the “r.”
That one’s really hard for me to understand when I hear a Brit say it.
A similar example is the word “massage,” which I don’t mention in the video, but whose British pronunciation sounds really strange to American ears!
18. gourmet
Moving on, let’s talk about some food: gourmet.
In British English, the word will be stressed on the first syllable: GOUR-met, GOUR-met. In American English, the word will be stressed on the second syllable: gour-MET, gour-MET.
Once again, this is a loanword from French, and you can hear that Americans stress that second syllable at the end of the word: gour-MET.
19. ice cream
When I learned this next difference, it was really surprising to me, because it’s one of my favorite things to eat in the summer: ice cream.
In British English, they stress the word “cream”: ice CREAM, ice CREAM. In American English, we stress the first syllable: ICE cream, ICE cream.
This difference is really interesting to me because compound nouns have such a predictable stress pattern in English, where we usually stress that first syllable: ICE cream.
20. magazine
Next, let’s talk about the word “magazine.”
In British English, the word would be stressed on the last syllable: ma-ga-ZINE, ma-ga-ZINE.
In American English, the word will be stressed on the first syllable: MA-ga-zine, MA-ga-zine.
However, because of the influence from British English, you will also hear people stress it on the last syllable.
I think we tend to shift the stress based on the way the word is used in the sentence, and the words that appear around it.
If you listen carefully, you’ll probably hear Americans use both pronunciations, but in American English it’s generally pronounced MA-ga-zine, with stress on that first syllable.
21. matinee
Next up: matinee. In this word, you’re going to hear a big difference between the British and American pronunciation, because I tend to change that “t” into a glottal “t”: matinee.
In British English, it would be MA-ti-nee, MA-ti-nee, and they would pronounce that “t” sound much better than I do as an American.
In American English, the word will be ma-ti-NEE, ma-ti-NEE, with a glottal “t.”
If you’re in California, or a region where you pronounce the “t” more clearly, you’ll hear people pronounce the “t” sound, but I would drop it. You can definitely hear my regional accent in that word!
22. migrate
Next, let’s talk about the word “migrate.”
In British English, the word would be stressed on the second syllable: mi-GRATE, mi-GRATE.
In American English, the word is stressed on the first syllable: MI-grate, MI-grate.
It’s so interesting how there are some words that are stressed on the first syllable in British English, and then they switch to the second syllable in American English, and other words are stressed on the second syllable in British English, and they switch to the first syllable in American English.
I’m not really sure why, but it’s quite interesting to consider.
23. montage
Next we have the word “montage.”
In British English, this word tends to be stressed on the first syllable: MON-tage, MON-tage.
In American English, we tend to stress it on the second syllable: mon-TAGE, mon-TAGE.
That said, you’ll hear Americans pronounce it both ways. Once again, the variation in pronunciation has to do with whether we’re using the noun or verb version of the word.
If it’s being used as a noun, a lot of Americans would say MON-tage, but we say the verb version as monTAGE.
Language is fun, isn’t it?
24. nonchalant
Next, we have a word that Americans definitely try to pronounce the French way: nonchalant.
In British English, it would be stressed on the first syllable: NON-cha-lant, NON-cha-lant.
In American English, we would pronounce it on the last syllable: non-cha-LANT, non-cha-LANT.
You can probably hear that this gives us a little bit of an affectation. We’re trying to sound a little more French.
And it really makes me wonder if it has to do with the French support of Americans in the earliest history of our nation!
25. premature
Another word we’re going to look at is “premature.”
In British English, the word would be stressed on the first syllable: PRE-mature, PRE-mature.
In American English, the word would be stressed on the third syllable: pre-ma-TURE, pre-ma-TURE.
26. princess
Here’s another word that sounds really funny to me when I hear it pronounced the British way, and of course given the news recently, we hear it pronounced the British way quite a lot: princess.
The British pronounce the word prin-CESS, prin-CESS.
I first heard this version in a movie called Ever After, and I was really surprised because that’s not the way I grew up hearing the word!
In American English, the word would be pronounced PRIN-cess, PRIN-cess.
The British stress the second syllable. Isn’t that interesting?
27. rotate
Next we have the word “rotate.” This one really surprised me when I heard there’s a British version.
The British would stress the second syllable: ro-TATE, ro-TATE.
Americans stress the first syllable: RO-tate, RO-tate.
28. sachet
Next, we have another obviously French word: sachet.
The British would pronounce the word SA-chet, SA-chet.
Americans pronounce it sa-CHET, sa-CHET, with stress on the second syllable.
29. salon
Another common word that we use is “salon.”
The British will stress it on the first syllable: SA-lon, SA-lon, with a different vowel sound.
The Americans would stress it on the second syllable: sa-LON, sa-LON.
You can hear that the word sounds a little more foreign when we stress it on the second syllable: sa-LON.
30. vaccine
Here’s another one: vaccine.
The British stress the first syllable: VAC-cine, VAC-cine. Americans say vac-CINE, vac-CINE.
Can you hear the difference?
31. weekend
And for our last word today, it’s a word that really confuses me: weekend.
The British pronounce it week-END, week-END, which probably has to do with the roots of the word.
Americans pronounce it WEEK-end, WEEK-end, with stress on the first syllable.
Word Stress Patterns Are Usually Consistent in American and British English
How do you feel after learning these 30 words that are stressed differently in British and American English?
Even if you’re feeling a little bit overwhelmed right now, I want to reassure you!
For the most part, the word stress patterns that we follow in English are the same between British and American English.
That’s right: despite these examples, word stress is usually consistent between the two dialects.
This helps simplify your work if you choose to study stress, which I really encourage you to do!
Even if you have other characteristics of a non-native accent, stressing words correctly will make it so much easier for a native English speaker to understand you, even if you’re speaking American English to a Brit, or British English to an American.
Of course, these words that are stressed differently between British and American English may cause a little bit of confusion, but these probably aren’t the words that you’re using most frequently in everyday speech.
Be sure to focus your attention on stress when you’re learning how to pronounce a word. It will truly help people understand you!
Your Turn
Now that you’ve learned the words that are stressed differently between British and American English, I want to know if you’ve heard of any other examples. Leave a comment and share below!
Which words did you find surprising? Which words do you find really challenging to stress correctly?
I’m happy to help you find the right stress in American English!
If you know you’re ready to work on your word and sentence stress in order to reduce your accent in English, consider joining my Stress Simplified program. This self-guided accent reduction program includes over 30 drills as well as specific tips that will help you sound like a native English speaker.
English words have certain patterns of stress which you should observe strictly if you want to be understood. The best way to learn English stress is to listen to audio materials and to repeat them after the speaker. The links on the entrance pages of the sections Phonetics, Phrases, and Vocabulary lead to the sites that offer useful listening materials, including sounds, syllables, words, sentences, and conversations. An overview of typical English patterns of word stress in this material will help you to recognize and understand word stress when you work with listening materials. It will also be helpful to listen to examples of word stress in Listening for Word Stress (AmE) in the section Phonetics.
Note: Main stressed syllable in the word is indicated by capital letters in this material, for example, LEMon. In words with two stresses, capital letters with a stress mark before them show the syllable with primary stress, and small letters with a stress mark before them show the syllable with secondary stress, for example, ‘eco’NOMics.
General guidelines on word stress
Generally, common English nouns, adjectives, and adverbs are more often stressed on the first syllable than on any other syllable. Verbs with prefixes are usually stressed on the second syllable, i.e., on the first syllable of the root after the prefix. English words can’t have two unstressed syllables at the beginning of the word; one of these syllables will be stressed. If a word has four or more syllables, there are usually two stresses in it: primary stress (strong stress) and secondary stress (weak stress). Also, secondary stress may be present (in addition to primary stress) in shorter words in the syllable in which the vowel sound remains long and strong.
Prefixes are often stressed in nouns and less often in verbs. Suffixes at the end of the word are rarely stressed, except for a few noun, adjective, and verb suffixes that are usually stressed: rooMETTE, ‘ciga’RETTE / ‘CIGa’rette, Chi’NESE, ‘SIGni’fy, ‘ORga’nize, ‘DECo’rate. In longer derivative words, stress may fall on a suffix or prefix according to typical patterns of word stress. Endings are not stressed.
Stress in derivatives
Stress in a derivative may remain the same as in the word from which it was derived, or it may change in a certain way. When nouns are formed from verbs, or verbs are formed from nouns, the following patterns of stress often occur.
The same stress:
deNY (verb) – deNIal (noun)
ofFEND (verb) – ofFENCE (noun)
reVIEW (noun) – reVIEW (verb)
PREview (noun) – PREview (verb)
HOSpital (noun) – HOSpitalize (verb)
Shift of stress:
preSENT (verb) – PRESent (noun)
reFER (verb) – REFerence (noun)
exTRACT (verb) – EXtract (noun)
inCREASE (verb) – INcrease (noun)
OBject (noun) – obJECT (verb)
Other parts of speech derived from nouns and verbs have the following typical patterns of stress.
Adjectives are usually stressed on the first syllable or repeat the stress of the nouns from which they were derived: fate (noun) – FATal (adj.); COLor (noun) – COLorful (adj.). But stress may change in longer derivative adjectives: METal (noun) – meTALlic (adj.); ATHlete (noun) – athLETic (adj.); geOLogy (noun) – ‘geo’LOGical (adj.); ARgument (noun) – ‘argu’MENtative (adj.).
Adverbs are usually stressed on the first syllable or repeat the stress of the adjectives from which they were derived: ANgry – ANgrily; WONderful – WONderfully; FOOLish – FOOLishly; athLETic – athLETically.
Gerunds and participles repeat the stress of the verbs from which they were formed: forGET – forGETting – forGOTten; CANcel – CANceling – CANceled; ‘ORga’nize – ‘ORga’nizing – ORganized.
Typical patterns of stress
Let’s look at typical examples of stress in English words. Main factors that influence stress are the number of syllables in the word, and whether the word is a noun, an adjective, or a verb.
ONE-SYLLABLE WORDS
One-syllable nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs are stressed on the vowel sound in the word. Note that a diphthong is one complex vowel sound that forms only one syllable. A diphthong is stressed on its first main component.
book, cat, rain, boat, crow, chair
read, burn, touch, choose, laugh, hear
new, bright, large, short, clear, loud
late, fast, soon, now
TWO-SYLLABLE WORDS
Two-syllable nouns
Two-syllable nouns are usually stressed on the first syllable.
TEACHer, STUDent, CARpet, LESson
REgion, ILLness, STATEment, CITy
CONvict, INcrease, INstinct, OBject
PERmit, PRESent, PROject, SYMbol
Nouns may be stressed on the last syllable if there is a long vowel sound or a diphthong in it. Words of foreign origin (especially words of French origin) may be stressed on the last syllable.
trainEE, caREER, deLAY, conCERN
poLICE, hoTEL, beRET, rooMETTE
Two-syllable adjectives
Two-syllable adjectives are usually stressed on the first syllable.
FUNny, LOCal, USEful
FOOLish, NATive, CAREless
Some adjectives are stressed on the last syllable if there is a long vowel sound or a diphthong in it.
abSURD, comPLETE, exTREME, moROSE
If there is a prefix in an adjective, stress often falls on the first syllable of the root after the prefix.
inSANE, imMUNE, enGAged
unWELL, unKNOWN
Two-syllable verbs
Two-syllable verbs are usually stressed on the second syllable, especially if the first syllable is a prefix.
adMIT, apPLY, beGIN, beLIEVE
comBINE, conFIRM, deNY, deSERVE
disLIKE, misPLACE, exPLAIN
forBID, forGET, igNORE, inVITE
oBEY, ocCUR, perMIT, prePARE
proPOSE, purSUE, reCEIVE, rePLY
supPLY, surPRISE, unDO, unLOCK
But there are many verbs that are stressed on the first syllable.
HAPpen, CANcel, PRACtice
ANswer, OFfer, MENtion
FOLlow, BORrow, PUNish
THREE-SYLLABLE WORDS
Three-syllable nouns
Three-syllable nouns are usually stressed on the first syllable.
POLitics, GOVernment, GENeral
INterest, GRADuate, CONfidence
But many nouns, especially those derived from verbs with prefixes, have stress on the second syllable.
apPROVal, conFUSion, conSUMer
corRECTness, eLECtion, diRECtor
Some nouns have primary stress on the last syllable if there is a long vowel sound or a diphthong in it.
‘engi’NEER, ‘refu’GEE
Three-syllable adjectives
Three-syllable adjectives are usually stressed on the first syllable.
GENeral, DELicate, EXcellent
WONderful, FAVorite, CURious
Some adjectives have one more stress on the last syllable if there is a long vowel or a diphthong in it.
‘OBso’lete / ‘obso’LETE
‘Vietna’MESE, ‘Portu’GUESE
Some adjectives do not repeat the stress of the noun from which they were derived and are stressed on the second syllable.
geNERic, symBOLic, inSTINCtive
Three-syllable verbs
Three-syllable verbs often have primary stress on the first syllable (even if it is a prefix) and secondary stress on the last syllable (which is often a verb suffix).
‘ORga’nize, ‘MODer’nize
‘SIGni’fy, ‘SPECi’fy
‘COMpen’sate, ‘DECo’rate
‘COMpli’ment, ‘CONsti’tute
But many verbs, especially those with prefixes, have stress on the second syllable.
conTINue, conSIDer, reMEMber
If the prefix consists of two syllables, its first syllable usually gets secondary stress.
‘under’STAND, ‘decom’POSE
‘contra’DICT, ‘corre’SPOND
FOUR OR MORE SYLLABLES
Long nouns, adjectives, verbs, and adverbs usually have two stresses: primary stress and secondary stress. But there are some long words with only one stress. There are four patterns of stress in long words.
Only one stress: on the first syllable
Nouns:
ACcuracy, DELicacy
Adjectives:
INteresting
Only one stress: on the second syllable
Nouns:
inTOLerance, geOMetry, aMERica
simPLICity, moBILity, teLEpathy
acCOMpaniment
Adjectives:
sigNIFicant, mysTErious, traDItional
inTOLerable, unREAsonable, noTOrious
Verbs:
acCOMpany
Two stresses: on the first and third syllable
This is a very common stress pattern in long words in English.
Nouns:
‘eco’NOMics, ‘infor’MAtion
‘consti’TUtion, ‘repe’TItion
‘coloni’ZAtion, ‘multipli’CAtion
Adjectives:
‘aca’DEMic, ‘geo’METrical
‘inter’NAtional, ‘cosmo’POLitan
‘capita’LIStic, ‘conver’SAtional
‘PAtro’nizing
Two stresses: on the second and fourth syllable
Nouns:
con’side’RAtion
in’vesti’GAtion
con’tinu’Ation
Adjectives:
ex’peri’MENtal
in’compre’HENsible
Verbs:
i’DENti’fy, in’TENsi’fy
in’TOXi’cate, ac’CUmu’late
com’MERcia’lize, a’POLo’gize.
Ударение в слове
Английские слова имеют определённые модели ударения, которые нужно строго соблюдать, если вы хотите, чтобы вас понимали. Лучший способ изучить английское ударение – слушать аудиоматериалы и повторять их за диктором. Ссылки на входных страницах разделов Phonetics, Phrases и Vocabulary ведут на сайты, которые предлагают полезные материалы для прослушивания, включая звуки, слоги, слова, предложения и разговоры. Краткий обзор типичных английских моделей ударения в данном материале поможет вам узнавать и понимать ударение в словах, когда вы работаете с материалами для прослушивания. Также будет полезно прослушать примеры ударения в материале для прослушивания Listening for Word Stress (AmE) в разделе Phonetics.
Примечание: Главный ударный слог в слове указан заглавными буквами в данном материале, например, LEMon. В словах с двумя ударениями, заглавные буквы со значком ударения перед ними показывают слог с главным ударением, а маленькие буквы со значком ударения перед ними показывают слог с второстепенным ударением, например, ‘eco’NOMics.
Общие рекомендации по ударению в словах
В целом, употребительные английские существительные, прилагательные и наречия чаще ударяются на первом слоге, чем на любом другом слоге. Глаголы с приставками обычно имеют ударение на втором слоге, т.е. на первом слоге корня после приставки. Английские слова не могут иметь два неударных слога в начале слова; один из этих слогов будет ударным. Если в слове четыре или более слогов, то в нём обычно два ударения: главное ударение (сильное ударение) и второстепенное ударение (слабое ударение). Также, второстепенное ударение может присутствовать (в дополнение к главному ударению) в более коротких словах в слоге, в котором гласный звук остается долгим и сильным.
Приставки часто ударные в существительных и реже в глаголах. Суффиксы в конце слова редко ударные, за исключением нескольких суффиксов существительных, прилагательных и глаголов, которые обычно ударные: rooMETTE, ‘ciga’RETTE / ‘CIGa’rette, Chi’NESE, ‘SIGni’fy, ‘ORga’nize, ‘DECo’rate. В более длинных производных словах ударение может падать на приставку или суффикс согласно типичным моделям ударения в слове. Окончания не ударные.
Ударение в производных словах
Ударение в производном слове может остаться таким же, как в слове, от которого оно образовано, или оно может измениться определённым образом. Когда существительные образуются от глаголов, или глаголы образуются от существительных, часто возникают следующие модели ударения.
Одинаковое ударение:
deNY (глагол) – deNIal (существительное)
ofFEND (глагол) – ofFENCE (существительное)
reVIEW (сущ.) – reVIEW (глагол)
PREview (сущ.) – PREview (глагол)
HOSpital (сущ.) – HOSpitalize (глагол)
Смещение ударения:
preSENT (глагол) – PRESent (существительное)
reFER (глагол) – REFerence (сущ.)
exTRACT (глагол) – EXtract (сущ.)
inCREASE (глагол) – INcrease (сущ.)
OBject (сущ.) – obJECT (глагол)
Другие части речи, образованные от существительных и глаголов, имеют следующие типичные модели ударения.
Прилагательные обычно ударные на первом слоге или повторяют ударение существительных, от которых они были образованы: fate (сущ.) – FATal (прилаг.); COLor (сущ.) – COLorful (прилаг.). Но ударение может меняться в более длинных производных прилагательных: METal (сущ.) – meTALlic (прилаг.); ATHlete (сущ.) – athLETic (прилаг.); geOLogy (сущ.) – ‘geo’LOGical (прилаг.); ARgument (сущ.) – ‘argu’MENtative (прилаг.).
Наречия обычно ударные на первом слоге или повторяют ударение прилагательных, от которых они были образованы: ANgry – ANgrily; WONderful – WONderfully; FOOLish – FOOLishly; athLETic – athLETically.
Герундий и причастия повторяют ударение глаголов, от которых они были образованы: forGET (забывать) – forGETting – forGOTten; CANcel (отменять) – CANceling – CANceled; ‘ORga’nize (организовать) – ‘ORga’nizing – ORganized.
Типичные модели ударения
Давайте посмотрим на типичные примеры ударения в английских словах. Главные факторы, которые влияют на ударение – количество слогов в слове и является ли это слово существительным, прилагательным или глаголом.
ОДНОСЛОЖНЫЕ СЛОВА
Односложные существительные, глаголы, прилагательные и наречия имеют ударение на гласном звуке в слове. Обратите внимание, что дифтонг – это один сложный гласный звук, который образует только один слог. Дифтонг имеет ударение на своём первом главном компоненте.
книга, кот, дождь, лодка, ворона, стул
читать, гореть, трогать, выбрать, смеяться, слышать
новый, яркий, большой, короткий, ясный, громкий
поздний / поздно, быстрый / быстро, скоро, сейчас
ДВУСЛОЖНЫЕ СЛОВА
Двусложные существительные
Существительные из двух слогов обычно ударные на первом слоге.
учитель, студент, ковер, урок
район, болезнь, утверждение, город
осужденный, увеличение, инстинкт, предмет
пропуск, подарок, проект, символ
Существительные могут иметь ударение на последнем слоге, если в нём долгий гласный звук или дифтонг. Слова иностранного происхождения (особенно слова французского происхождения) могут иметь ударение на последнем слоге.
стажер, карьера, задержка, забота
полиция, гостиница, берет, одноместное купе
Двусложные прилагательные
Прилагательные из двух слогов обычно ударные на первом слоге.
смешной, местный, полезный
глупый, родной, беззаботный
Некоторые двусложные прилагательные могут иметь ударение на последнем слоге, если в нём долгий гласный звук или дифтонг.
абсурдный, полный, крайний, угрюмый
Если в прилагательном есть приставка, то ударение часто падает на первый слог корня после приставки.
безумный, имеющий иммунитет, занятый
нездоровый, неизвестный
Двусложные глаголы
Глаголы из двух слогов обычно ударные на втором слоге, особенно если первый слог – приставка.
допускать, применять, начинать, верить
соединять, подтвердить, отрицать, заслуживать
не любить, положить не на место, объяснять
запрещать, забывать, игнорировать, приглашать
подчиняться, возникать, разрешать, подготовить
предлагать, преследовать, получать, ответить
снабжать, удивлять, аннулировать, отпереть
Но есть много глаголов, которые имеют ударение на первом слоге.
случаться, отменить, практиковать
отвечать, предлагать, упоминать
следовать, заимствовать, наказывать
ТРЕХСЛОЖНЫЕ СЛОВА
Трехсложные существительные
Существительные из трёх слогов обычно имеют ударение на первом слоге.
политика, правительство, генерал
интерес, выпускник, уверенность
Но многие существительные, особенно образованные от глаголов с приставками, имеют ударение на втором слоге.
одобрение, замешательство, потребитель
правильность, избрание, директор
Некоторые существительные могут иметь главное ударение на последнем слоге, если в нём долгий гласный звук или дифтонг.
инженер, беженец
Трехсложные прилагательные
Прилагательные из трёх слогов обычно имеют ударение на первом слоге.
общий, деликатный, превосходный
чудесный, любимый, любопытный
Некоторые трёхсложные прилагательные имеют ещё одно ударение на последнем слоге, если в нём долгий гласный звук или дифтонг.
вышедший из употребления
вьетнамский, португальский
Некоторые прилагательные не повторяют ударение существительного, от которого они были образованы, и ударяются на втором слоге.
видовой, символический, инстинктивный
Трехсложные глаголы
Глаголы из трёх слогов часто имеют главное ударение на первом слоге (даже если это приставка) и второстепенное ударение на последнем слоге (который часто глагольный суффикс).
организовать, модернизировать
означать, уточнять
компенсировать, украшать
делать комплимент, составлять
Но многие глаголы, особенно те, которые с приставками, имеют ударение на втором слоге.
продолжать, рассмотреть, помнить
Если приставка состоит из двух слогов, её первый слог обычно получает второстепенное ударение.
понимать, разлагаться
противоречить, соответствовать
ЧЕТЫРЕ ИЛИ БОЛЕЕ СЛОГОВ
Длинные существительные, прилагательные, глаголы и наречия обычно имеют два ударения: главное и второстепенное ударение. Но есть некоторые длинные слова только с одним ударением. В длинных словах четыре модели ударения.
Только одно ударение: на первом слоге
Существительные:
точность, утончённость
Прилагательные:
интересный
Только одно ударение: на втором слоге
Существительные:
нетерпимость, геометрия, Америка
простота, мобильность, телепатия
аккомпанемент
Прилагательные:
значительный, таинственный, традиционный
невыносимый, неразумный, печально известный
Глаголы:
сопровождать
Два ударения: на первом и третьем слоге
Это очень распространённая модель ударения в длинных словах в английском языке.
Существительные:
экономика, информация
конституция, повторение
колонизация, умножение
Прилагательные:
академический, геометрический
международный, космополитический
капиталистический, разговорный
покровительственный
Два ударения: на втором и четвертом слоге
Существительные:
рассмотрение
расследование
продолжение
Прилагательные:
экспериментальный
непонятный / непостижимый
Глаголы:
идентифицировать, усиливать
опьянять, накапливать
превращать в источник прибыли, извиняться.
English students often learn syllable and word stress rules before venturing into sentence stress. This is because sentence stress rules are far more variable and complex, while the rules for correct intonation in English generally stay the same. To demonstrate the differences, let’s look at a few different examples of stress in English.
Syllable Stress vs. Sentence Stress
When you learn how to pronounce different vowel and consonant sounds, you must also learn how to stress different parts of a word correctly. Stress is just another way to say “emphasize.” This means that some parts of a word are stronger (and slightly louder) than others. Here are a few examples:
- Away (pronounced: a-WAY)
- Delicious (pronounced: de-LI-cious)
- Anticipate (pronounced: an-TI-ci-PATE)
- Communication (pronounced: comm-un-i-CA-tion)
- Autobiography (pronounced: au-to-bi-O-gra-phy)
Some longer words have a primary stressed syllable and one or more secondary stressed syllables. The primary stressed syllable is always stronger than the secondary stressed syllable, while both are stronger than unstressed syllables. Be sure to check out our guide on stressed and unstressed syllables to learn more about using proper English intonation.
Sentence stress refers to the words in a sentence that get the most emphasis. While common sayings and phrases usually have unchanging sentence stress rules, you can emphasize different words in a sentence to create new meanings. For example, let’s look at the common saying: I told you so!
The most common way to say this phrase is to put the primary stress on “told” and the secondary stress on “so,” like this:
I TOLD you SO!
However, you could also change the implicit meaning of the phrase by emphasizing “I.” By doing this, you will stress the fact that you (the speaker) were the one who told them (the listener) about something.
Which words should you stress in a sentence?
So, how can you know which words to stress in a sentence? Again, there are no hard-and-fast sentence stress rules, but there are some general principles that will help you use stress properly when speaking in English. You can often tell which words should be stressed based on the parts of speech and where the words fall in a sentence.
- Content words (nouns, adjectives, adverbs, and main verbs) are usually stressed.
- Function words (determiners, prepositions, and conjunctions) are usually unstressed unless you want to emphasize their role(s) in a sentence.
- Question words (who, what, when, where, why, and how) are usually unstressed unless you want to emphasize their role(s) in a sentence.
- Subject pronouns (I, You, He, She, We, They) are usually unstressed, while object pronouns (me, you, him, her, us, them) are usually stressed.
Sentence Stress in a Statement
| Pronoun | Main Verb | Adverb | Preposition | Determiner | Noun |
| I | ran | quickly | to | the | desk. |
| unstressed | unstressed | STRESSED (primary) | unstressed | unstressed | STRESSED (secondary) |
This example denotes the natural rise and fall of the sentence. However, as previously stated, you could stress different words to alter the meaning:
- I ran quickly to the desk. (emphasizes who is doing the running)
- I ran quickly to the desk. (emphasizes what action is being done)
- I ran quickly to the desk. (emphasizes the way in which you ran, but does not fundamentally change the meaning of the sentence)
- I ran quickly to the desk. (inappropriate sense stress, but emphasizes the direction in which you ran)
- I ran quickly to the desk. (inappropriate sense stress, but emphasizes that it was a specific desk)
- I ran quickly to the desk. (emphasizes the object or location to which you ran)
Sentence Stress in a Question
| Pronoun | Modal Verb | Main Verb | Preposition | Determiner | Noun |
| Who | will | come | to | the | party? |
| unstressed | unstressed | STRESSED (primary) | unstressed | unstressed | STRESSED (secondary) |
Like the previous example, the sentence stress here also denotes the natural rise and fall of the word combination. However, you could still ask this question six different ways to convey six slightly different meanings:
- Who will come to the party? (you want to know who the party attendees are)
- Who will come to the party? (you want to know who will definitely be attending the party)
- Who will come to the party? (you want to know who will attend the party, but this form does not change the standard meaning of the question)
- Who will come to the party? (inappropriate sense stress, but emphasizes the location of the party)
- Who will come to the party? (inappropriate sense stress, but emphasizes which party you’re talking about)
- Who will come to the party? (you want to emphasize the party, possibly in contrast to a separate event)
Sentence Stress and Intonation in English
If you couldn’t already tell, sentence stress is often linked to the way our voices rise and fall (intonation) while speaking. The natural rise and fall in pitch usually determines which words are stressed and unstressed. This is why the two example sentences above have similar structures. They are both examples of falling intonation.
In American English, there are two basic types of intonation: rising intonation and falling intonation. Falling intonation is far more common. When you speak with falling intonation, the pitch of your voice starts high and gets lower by the end of the sentence. More often than not, sentences with falling intonation use stressed verbs and objects. For example:
- I saw a crab at the beach.
- They never return my calls.
- Frank is a responsible person.
- My dad doesn’t like to wash the dishes.
Alternatively, rising intonation occurs when the pitch of your voice starts lower and gets higher at the end of the sentence. This type of intonation is less common, but you can use it when you want to ask a Yes/No question or when you want to express a negative emotion, like anger. Similarly, the stress often falls on verbs and objects, though this can vary depending on the meaning you want to convey. Here are some examples:
- Are you sure?
- Do you want to go to the park?
- You’re so mean!
- I don’t want to talk to you!
What is sense stress?
You might have heard of sense stress, which is very similar to the concept of sentence stress. Sense stress simply refers to the use of stress on different words to convey different meanings. Thus, sense stress is a form of sentence stress. Usually, people refer to appropriate or inappropriate sense stress. Appropriate sense stress sounds natural and correctly conveys the meaning of a sentence. Here are some examples of appropriate sense stress:
- How many HAMBURGERS should we get?
- What TIME is it?
- He ANSWERED the phone.
- They did NOT want to go swimming.
Alternatively, inappropriate sense stress sounds unnatural and conveys strange or incorrect meanings. Here are a few examples:
- Where do you want to eat?
- Did you go to the doctor?
- I never go to the supermarket by myself.
- She was watching a movie when the guests arrived.
Conclusion
Sentence stress is an element of English that can be difficult to grasp, especially for beginner or even intermediate learners. However, with practice, you can use stress to accurately express yourself. With time, you’ll find that sense and sentence stress are some of the best ways to get your point across to other English speakers!
If you’d like to hear native English speakers using sentence stress, be sure to subscribe to the Magoosh Youtube channel!