There are two very simple rules about word stress:
- One word has only one stress. (One word cannot have two stresses. If you hear two stresses, you hear two words. Two stresses cannot be one word. It is true that there can be a «secondary» stress in some words. But a secondary stress is much smaller than the main [primary] stress, and is only used in long words.)
- We can only stress vowels, not consonants.
Here are some more, rather complicated, rules that can help you understand where to put the stress. But do not rely on them too much, because there are many exceptions. It is better to try to «feel» the music of the language and to add the stress naturally.
A. Stress on first syllable
| rule | examples |
|---|---|
|
Most 2-syllable nouns |
PRESent |
|
Most 2-syllable adjectives |
PRESent |
B. Stress on last syllable
| rule | examples |
|---|---|
|
Most 2-syllable verbs |
preSENT |
There are many two-syllable words in English whose meaning and class change with a change in stress. The word present, for example is a two-syllable word. If we stress the first syllable, it is a noun (gift) or an adjective (opposite of absent). But if we stress the second syllable, it becomes a verb (to offer). More examples: the words export, import, contract and object can all be nouns or verbs depending on whether the stress is on the first or second syllable.
C. Stress on penultimate syllable (penultimate = second from end)
| rule | examples |
|---|---|
|
Words ending in -ic |
GRAPHic |
|
Words ending in -sion and -tion |
teleVIsion |
For a few words, native English speakers don’t always «agree» on where to put the stress. For example, some people say teleVIsion and others say TELevision. Another example is: CONtroversy and conTROversy.
D. Stress on ante-penultimate syllable (ante-penultimate = third from end)
| rule | examples |
|---|---|
|
Words ending in -cy, -ty, -phy and -gy |
deMOcracy |
|
Words ending in -al |
CRItical |
E. Compound words (words with two parts)
| rule | examples |
|---|---|
|
For compound nouns, the stress is on the first part |
BLACKbird |
|
For compound adjectives, the stress is on the second part |
bad-TEMpered |
|
For compound verbs, the stress is on the second part |
underSTAND |
Contributor: Josef Essberger
Updated: August 2020
In our previous post, we shared 12 great tips to help you improve your English pronunciation. For tip number nine, Understanding Word Stress & Sentence Stress, we explained the importance of word stress rules for communicating effectively in English. In this post, we delve a little deeper into the subject.
What is Word Stress?
The stress placed on syllables within words is called word stress. In one word, we place emphasis on one syllable, while the other syllables are given less emphasis.
English words only have one stressed syllable. Whilst longer words can have a secondary stress, it is always a much lighter stress. It is also worth noting that we stress vowel sounds and not consonants.
In English we have variable stress where the position of the stress is unpredictable. This contrasts with some other languages – like Polish or Finnish – that have fixed stress where the stress on virtually any multi-syllable word falls on a particular syllable. Learn more here.
Where you place stress or emphasis within a word can affect the way in which it is pronounced and therefore its meaning. As a result, knowing which syllable within a word should be emphasised or stressed is very important for correct pronunciation. The reason for this is that placing stress on the wrong syllable within a word can completely change the meaning of a word.
Understanding The Importance of Word Stress
So, understanding the importance of word stress is vital if you want to improve your English pronunciation and speak English like a native English.
But if word stress is so important, exactly what are the rules that we need to follow?
As with so many aspects of the English language, there are many rules to learn. Then, to make things even more tricky, there are also many contradictions or exceptions to those rules. This can make learning English more challenging for some students.
To help you out, we have compiled some simple guidelines for learning the rules of word stress. We don’t cover all aspects of English word stress rules but the points we have mentioned will certainly get you started.
English Word Stress Rules
1. Word Stress For Two-Syllable Words
Two-Syllable Nouns
If the word is a two-syllable noun, we usually place the stress on the FIRST syllable.
Example: MONkey, TEAcher, DIStance, INsect, TAble,
Two-Syllable Adjectives
If the word is a two-syllable adjective, as with two-syllable nouns, we usually place the stress on the FIRST syllable.
Examples: SIlent, BORing, LIttle, PURple, STUpid, CLEver, FRIEndly
Two Syllable Verbs
Conversely, if the word is a two-syllable verb we generally stress the SECOND syllable.
Examples: beGIN, surVIVE, aTTEND, coLLECT, preVENT
See more examples of verbs where the second syllable is stressed.
Two Syllable Prepositions
The SECOND syllable is also stressed if the word is a preposition.
Examples: aROUND, beFORE, beLOW, inSIDE, toWARDS (See more examples of prepositions with stress on second syllable)
2. Word Stress For Words That Are Both Nouns & Verbs
When a word can be both a noun and a verb, we stress the FIRST syllable for the noun and the SECOND syllable for the verb.
Examples:
1) The violent CONflict between the couple conFLICTS with their pacifistic beliefs.
2) The PREsents he preSENTS his wife never fail to disappoint her.
3) They will no doubt disCOUNT my suggestion for DIScounts on Chinese courses for the elderly.
Click here for some good examples with audio included:
As mentioned, there are always exceptions to the rules. That said, it’s fairly accurate to say that only around 20% of two-syllable words have their stress on the second syllable.
3. Word Stress For Words Ending in ‘er’ & ‘ly’.
If a word ends in either ‘er’ or ‘ly’, whether it’s a noun, an adjective or an adverb, the general rules is that the stress is placed on the first syllable.
Example:
ANgrily, PERfectly, SUddenly, HAppily,
FOReigner, GARdener, BARtender, MANager
BIgger, BEtter, FAtter
4. Words That Use The Suffix ade, ee, ese, ique, ette & oon
Stress the actual suffix of words (including the first consonant before the suffix) ending in -ade, -ee, -ese, -ique and -ette and -oon
Examples:
deCADE, inVADE,
ampuTEE, guaranTEE, aGREE,
ChiNESE, oBESE, legaLESE,
vinaigRETTE, kitcheNETTE, laundeRETTE,
anTIQUE, obLIQUE,
carTOON, baBOON
5. Simple Word Stress Rules For Suffixes
The rule changes for words with a number of other suffixes such as -ery, -ian, -ible, -able, i-al, -cian, -ic, -ish, -ics, -ion, -ious, -ia, and -ient. Instead of placing the emphasis on the actual suffix as illustrated in the examples above, we stress the syllable just before the suffix.
Examples:
-ery: CELery, SURgery, reCOVery
-ian: boHEMian, coMEdian, ciVILian, beauTICian
-ible: AUDible, adMISSible, SENSible
-able: aDAPTable, SUITable, CHANGEable
-ial: fiNANcial, artiFICial, oFFICial
-cian: maGIcian, opTIcian, beauTIcian
-ic: BAsic, draMAtic, characteRIStic
-ish: GARish, ENglish, unSELfish
-ics: dyNAMics, aeRObics, hypNOtics
-ion: VERsion, classifiCAtion, CAUtion
-ious: harMONious, PREvious, VARious, FURious
-ia: TRIVia, maLARia, multiMEdia
-ient: ANcient, NUtrient, suFICient
-osis: thromBOsis, psyCHOsis, osMOsis
A good way to remember some of the suffixes above is to use the rule for nearly all suffixes that start with an ‘i’ or a ‘u’. For example, the suffixes -ion, -ual, -uous, -ial, -ient, -ious, -iuor, ior, -ic, -ity.
Notice again how we stress the syllable immediately before the suffix in the following examples:
diVERsion,
unUSual,
conTINuous,
amBIGuous,
FATuous,
SPAtial,
TRANSient,
LUSCious,
suPERior,
behaviour,
JUNior,
STOic,
linGUIStic,
photoGRAPHic
Note, some exceptions to this rule include words ending in -ism, -ist and -ize.
English Word Stress Videos
How Dictionaries Help With Word Stress
If you are unsure about where to place the stress in a word, you can always refer to an English dictionary. All good dictionaries give the phonetic spelling of a word.
You can learn which syllable of a word is stressed by looking at the phonetic spelling. The stressed syllable is commonly shown with an apostrophe (‘) just before or just after the stressed syllable.
Unfortunately, dictionary creators never agreed on one system so you should refer to your dictionary’s (how to use this dictionary) notes to see which system they use.
Here’s an example from my dictionary that shows which syllable to stress by placing the apostrophe immediately BEFORE the stressed syllable:
photograph | ‘fəʊtəɡrɑːf
photographic | ˌfəʊtə’ɡrafɪk
Using the system of capitalising the stressed syllable as in all of my examples above, these two dictionary examples look like this:
PHOtograph
photGRAPHic
Learn Word Stress With Practise & Experience
As previously mentioned, the list of rules above is by no means complete. However, it does explain where to place the primary emphasis on numerous English words.
If the thoughts of learning all these rules is overwhelming, do not be too discouraged. Many English learners naturally assimilate to word stress rules simply by listening and practicing the language.
Probably the best way to learn is from experience. Try to get a feel for the music of the language by listening carefully to spoken English.
Of course, if you would like some extra assistance with your English speaking skills, contact us to find out more about our English courses in Hong Kong.
Here’s a brief overview of our English courses. Click the image for more details.
By
Last updated:
April 13, 2022
8 English Word Stress Rules to Promote Clear Communication
There should be a rhythm to English sentences—it shouldn’t sound flat, monotone (all in the same tone) and boring!
I know it sounds like an additional challenge, especially when speaking English is already difficult.
However, when you pronounce every bit of a word and sentence with the same pitch, volume and length, it might make it difficult for native speakers to understand you.
Contents
- Why Word Stress Matters
- What Is Word Stress?
-
- Identifying syllables to understand word stress
- Features of a stressed syllable
- 8 Word Stress Rules to Improve Your English Pronunciation
-
- 1. Nouns and adjectives with two syllables
- 2. Verbs and prepositions with two syllables
- 3. Words that are both a noun and a verb
- 4. Three syllable words ending in “er” and “ly”
- 5. Words ending in “ic,” “sion” and “tion”
- 6. Words ending in “cy,” “ty,” “phy,” “gy” and “al”
- 7. Compound nouns
- 8. Compound adjectives and verbs
- Resources to Perfect Your Word Stress Skills
Download:
This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you
can take anywhere.
Click here to get a copy. (Download)
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. Perhaps you don’t know much (or anything at all) about the stress in English words yet, but trust me, it’s the key to improving your communication skills, both with speaking to a native English speaker and listening to English.
Also, I’m not just telling you how important word stress is. This guide will take you through the basics of this pronunciation challenge and provide you with eight rules to start doing it right.
Learning word stress is a crucial part of becoming an advanced English learner.
In addition to word stress, it is important to learn the pronunciation of the English dialect you want to speak.
What Is Word Stress?
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/. (Please note that in this guide, I’ll demonstrate the stress in a word by capitalizing all the letters that make up the syllable.)
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), “ne-ce-ssa-ry” (four syllables), etc.
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:
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 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:
present /pre-SENT/
export /ex-PORT/
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 and notice some of the same words. However, this is a separate section since those pairs of words are relatively common in English and they’re likely to cause misunderstanding due to the same spelling.
Examples:
present /PRE-sent/ (a gift) vs. present /pre-SENT/ (give something formally)
export /EX-port/ (the practice or business of selling goods to another country or an article that is exported) vs. export /ex-PORT/ (to sell goods to another country)
suspect /SU-spect/ (someone who the police believe may have committed a crime) vs suspect /su-SPECT/ (to believe that something is true, especially something bad)
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”
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:
football /FOOT-ball/
keyboard /KEY-board/
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/
Resources to Perfect Your Word Stress Skills
Here are some resources to learn about this important factor of English pronunciation:
- Forvo — Forvo is definitely one of the more popular audio dictionaries on the market. Translations are provided if you type in a word in English, and a map is shown to give you audio clips of how people say the particular word in varying dialects. For your convenience, we’ve linked the words in the guide to this resource so you’ll be able to hear the pronunciation immediately.
- Merriam-Webster — Merriam-Webster is a well-known dictionary and has high-quality definitions—all available offline. It lets you save favorites, has a word of the day and keeps track of recent searches you did. It’s also available as an app on both iOS and Android devices. Other dictionaries with pronunciation citations you can check out are MacMillan and Cambridge.
- FluentU — FluentU is a language learning website and app that teaches with videos made by, and for, native English speakers. This means you can learn and get used to the sounds of the language in context. Each clip comes with interactive subtitles where you can click on a word to get its definition as well as information on pronunciation. You can also practice writing and speaking vocabulary with personalized quizzes.
- English Club — English Club is a popular site for both English learners and teachers. It provides grammar lessons in small, easy-to-understand parts. There are also fun quizzes and games so you can practice the knowledge you learn. It’s entirely free. You can also find more word stress quizzes and exercises from Word Stress Rules and esl-lounge.
Constant practice will improve your stress pronunciation quickly and effectively! Soon, you can confidently apply what you learned to real conversations and sound like a true native speaker.
Mastering the subject of word stress isn’t easy, as there are many rules and exceptions. While native speakers do it naturally, English learners have to get there through a lot of practice and repetition.
These eight English speaking and word stress rules in this guide might seem a bit overwhelming but they work as references. Next time you hear a word or look something up in a dictionary, come back to these rules.
Make it a habit to be more aware of what you learn and soon you’ll perfect your pronunciation.
Download:
This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you
can take anywhere.
Click here to get a copy. (Download)
What is Word Stress?
When a word has more than two syllables in English, one syllable will receive more importance than the others when it is pronounced. This is the syllable that receives the primary word stress. This means that, compared to the other ones, the vowel sound of that syllable will be slightly:
- louder,
- longer,
- at a higher pitch.
For example, the word chapter is stressed on the first syllable. The first syllable, chap-, will be louder and slightly longer than the last syllable –ter. The intensity of each syllable in this example can be illustrated as follows:
This graphs represents the intensity of the word chapter, illustrating the difference between the stressed and unstressed syllable.
Listen to the following words and pay attention to which syllable in the word is stressed:
- comPUter
- GOvernment
- enVIronment
- DICtionary
- beHAVior
- VIolence
- SENtence
Check how much you remember with this quick exercise.
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Wondering how to teach English pronunciation more effectively? Here are definitions, examples, techniques and activity ideas for the classroom that may boost your lessons and help your learners be more successful!
Word stress is the emphasis we place in a specific syllable of a word when pronouncing it. In English words that have more than one syllable, we usually don’t pronounce every syllable with the same weight, so each syllable in a word can be stressed or unstressed.
Stressed syllables are louder than the others — i.e. air comes out of our lungs with more power; but they might also be longer, or pronounced with higher or lower in pitch. Syllables that are not pronounced with such emphasis are usually referred to as unstressed syllables, and they are usually not pronounced as clearly as the others.
Some longer words may have more than one ‘strong syllables’, but one of them tends to stand out more than the other. They are referred to as primary and secondary stress, the former being the strongest.
Stress is usually represented in the phonemic chart and transcription by the symbol /ˈ/ placed before the stresses syllable. In words that have secondary stress, we include the symbol /ˌ/ before the appropriate syllable (e.g. everybody: /ˈev.riˌbɒd.i/).
Unlike sentence stress, that frequently changes position according to the speakers’ intention, word stress tends to be fairly invariable. As a result, even when we want to emphasise a word over all others in an utterance, we tend to stick to the usual word stress pattern, making the stressed syllable even longer, louder or more high-pitched.
Because of this relative invariability, mistakes in word stress may lead to more problems with intelligibility than other errors related to pronunciation, so it is crucial that students are made aware of how the word is usually pronounced. Luckily, the same regularity makes stress patterns fairly easy to teach, and it helps students recognise words with less effort.
Next time you’re teaching, consider using the tips below to include work on word stress in your lessons.
1) Draw students’ attention to word stress whenever you teach them a new word
Even though the English language does show some identifiable patterns and ‘rules’ when it comes to word stress, they tend to be rather abstract and might confuse rather than enlighten students. You may increase chances of internalisation of accurate pronunciation, however, if you deal with word stress as an essential characteristic of the new word when teaching it, just like meaning and spelling, for example.
Some patterns may be easier for students to cope with.
2) Make word stress visible
Not only can visual reference can be quite helpful to clarify the pronunciation of words, but it can also provide students with a model they can use to systematise or organise new vocabulary they learn in a more autonomous way.
Here are some examples of how you to illustrate word stress.
3) Correct mistakes in word stress often.
Given its generally invariable character, misplacing word stress may affect intelligibility (arguably, more so than mispronunciation of individual sounds in a word). Therefore, it is of really important that learners be not only taught, but also corrected when they misplace word stress.
Some useful techniques to correct mistakes related to word stress are:
-
Use one of the ways of recording stress above to draw students’ attention to the stress pattern and ask them to try it again.
-
Use different fingers to mark each syllable and point at the one that corresponds to the stressed one.
-
Say that the pronunciation of the word isn’t accurate and give the learner a second chance to get it right.
-
Tap on a surface or clap your hands in a way that illustrates the stress pattern (alternating stronger and weaker sounds).
-
Use drawings or different-sized objects to illustrate the appropriate stress patterns and ask the learner to try to produce it again.
4) Use playful activities to teach or practice pronunciation
Regardless of the age of the learner, activities that involve an element of fun can help lower learners’ affective filter, or anxiety levels, and increase opportunities for internatlisation.
The domino game below was designed for a vocabulary lesson in which pre-intermediate learners are being exposed to new lexis to describe professions and revisiting some occupations they already know.
Stage 1 — Lead-in
Students get in pairs and brainstorm jobs that are common now that weren’t common in the past.
Stage 2 — Language presentation and clarification
Meaning: Students analyse statements with the new lexis and match the highlighted words to definitions.
Example:
«I’m an intern now, but I want to keep working here after I graduate from Uni.
Definition: someone who is finishing their training for a job by getting practical experience.
Teacher than asks some CCQs to check students’ understanding.
Pronunciation: Teacher distributes dominoes and ask students to try to get rid of their pieces just as they would when playing regular dominoes. Instead of numbers, however, they are to match words with similar stress patterns.
Stages 3 and 4 — After this stage, students take part in controlled and less-controlled practice.
CLICK HERE to download a free PDF version of the domino.
CLICK HERE to donwload a blank PDF version of the domino, so you can use it in your lessons on any topic.
I hope this post has been useful to you! Let us know how you teach word stress and if you tried sny new things after reading this.
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