Word Stress in English

Word stress is your magic key to understanding spoken English. Native speakers of English use word stress naturally. Word stress is so natural for them that they don't even know they use it. Non-native speakers who speak English to native speakers without using word stress, encounter two problems: . !hey find it difficult to understand native speakers, especially those speaking fast. ". !he native speakers may find it difficult to understand them. !o understand word stress, it helps to understand syllables. Every word is made from syllables. Each word has one, two, three or more syllables. word dog green #uite #uiet orange table e$pensive interesting realistic dog green #uite #ui-et or-ange ta-ble e$-pen-sive in-ter-est-ing re-al-is-tic " " " % & & ' number of syllables

une$ceptional un-e$-cep-tion-al

Notice that (with a few rare e$ceptions) every syllable contains at least one vowel (a, e, i, o or u) or vowel sound.

What is Word Stress?

*n English, we do not say each syllable with the same force or strength. *n one word, we accentuate +NE syllable. We say one syllable very loudly (big, strong, important) and all the other syllables very quietly. ,et's take % words: photograph, photographer and photographic. -o they sound the same when spoken. No. /ecause we accentuate (stress) +NE syllable in each word. 0nd it is not always the same syllable. 1o the shape of each word is different.

shape

total syllables %

stressed syllable 2

PHO O !"#PH

PHO O !"#PH E"

&

2"

PHO O !"#PH $%

&

2%

!his happens in 0,, words with " or more syllables: !E034er, 5a60N, 34*Na, a/+7E, conver10tion, *Nteresting, im6+8tant, de90N-, et3E!era, et3E!era, et3E!era !he syllables that are not stressed are weak or small or quiet. Native speakers of English listen for the 1!8E11E- syllables, not the weak syllables. *f you use word stress in your speech, you will instantly and automatically improve your pronunciation and your comprehension. !ry to hear the stress in individual words each time you listen to English - on the radio, or in films for e$ample. :our first step is to 4E08 and recognise it. 0fter that, you can ;1E it< !here are two very important rules about word stress: . One word& one stress' (+ne word cannot have two stresses. 1o if you hear two stresses, you have heard two words, not one word.) (' he stress is always on a vowel'

Why is Word Stress $mportant?

Word stress is not used in all languages. 1ome languages, 5apanese or =rench for e$ample, pronounce each syllable with e#-ual em-pha-sis. +ther languages, English for e$ample, use word stress. Word stress is not an optional e$tra that you can add to the English language if you want. *t is part of the language< English speakers use word stress to communicate rapidly and accurately, even in difficult conditions. *f, for e$ample, you do not hear a word clearly, you can still understand the word because of the position of the stress. !hink again about the two words photograph and photographer. Now imagine that you are speaking to somebody by telephone over a very bad line. :ou cannot hear clearly. *n fact, you hear only the first two syllables of one of these words, photo''' Which word is it, photograph or photographer. +f course, with word stress you will

know immediately which word it is because in reality you will hear either PHOto''' or pho O''' 1o without hearing the whole word, you probably know what the word is ( PHOto'''graph or pho O'''grapher). *t's magic< (+f course, you also have the 'conte$t' of your conversation to help you.) !his is a simple e$ample of how word stress helps us understand English. !here are many, many other e$amples, because we use word stress all the time, without thinking about it.

Where do $ Put Word Stress?

!here are some rules about which syllable to stress. /ut...the rules are rather complicated< 6robably the best way to learn is from e$perience. ,isten carefully to spoken English and try to develop a feeling for the >music> of the language. When you learn a new word, you should also learn its stress pattern. *f you keep a vocabulary book, make a note to show which syllable is stressed. *f you do not know, you can look in a dictionary. 0ll dictionaries give the phonetic spelling of a word. !his is where they show which syllable is stressed, usually with an apostrophe (') ?ust before or ?ust after the stressed syllable. (!he notes at the front of the dictionary will e$plain the system used.) ,ook at (and listen to) this e$ample for the word plastic. !here are " syllables. 1yllable 2 is stressed. e)ample phonetic spelling* dictionary # phonetic spelling* dictionary +

P,#S $%

-pl.s/t$k-

-/pl.s t$k-

"ules of Word Stress in English

!here are two very simple rules about word stress: . One word has only one stress' (+ne word cannot have two stresses. *f you hear two stresses, you hear two words. !wo stresses cannot be one word. *t is true that there can be a >secondary> stress in some words. /ut a secondary stress is much smaller than the main @primaryA stress, and is only used in long words.) (' We can only stress vowels& not consonants'

4ere are some more, rather complicated, rules that can help you understand where to put the stress. /ut do not rely on them too much, because there are many e$ceptions. *t is better to try to >feel> the music of the language and to add the stress naturally. 0 Stress on first syllable rule 9ost (1syllable nouns 9ost (1syllable ad2ectives ( Stress on last syllable rule 9ost (1syllable verbs e)ample to pre1EN!, to e$6+8!, to de3*-E, to beC*N e)ample 68E1ent, EBport, 34*na, !0ble 68E1ent, 1,ENder, 3,E7er, 406py

!here are many two-syllable words in English whose meaning and class change with a change in stress. !he word present, for e$ample is a two-syllable word. *f we stress the first syllable, it is a noun (gift) or an ad?ective (opposite of absent). /ut if we stress the second syllable, it becomes a verb (to offer). 9ore e$amples: the words e)port, import, contract and ob2ect can all be nouns or verbs depending on whether the stress is on the first or second syllable. 3 Stress on penultimate syllable (penultimate D second from end) rule Words ending in 1ic Words ending in 1sion and 1tion e)ample C8064ic, geoC8064ic, geo,+Cic tele7*sion, reve,0tion

=or a few words, native English speakers don't always >agree> on where to put the stress. =or e$ample, some people say tele4$sion and others say E,evision. 0nother e$ample is: %O5troversy and con "Oversy. 6 Stress on ante1penultimate syllable (ante-penultimate D third from end) rule e)ample

Words ending in 1cy, 1ty, 1phy and 1gy Words ending in 1al

de9+cracy, dependa/*lity, pho!+graphy, ge+,ogy 38*tical, geo,+Cical

7 %ompound words (words with two parts) rule =or compound nouns, the stress is on the first part e)ample /,03Ebird, C8EENhouse

=or compound ad2ectives, the stress is on the second bad-!E9pered, oldpart =014ioned =or compound verbs, the stress is on the second part to under1!0N-, to over=,+W