Rules of Word Stress in English

There are two very simple rules about word stress:

1. 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 lon" words.#
2. We can only stress vowels, not consonants.
$ere are some more, rather complicated, rules that can help you understand where to put the stress. But do not rely
on them too much, because there are many e%ceptions. It is better to try to "feel" the music of the lan"ua"e and to
add the stress naturally.
1 &tress on first syllable
rule example
'ost 2-syllale nouns ()*&ent, *+port, ,$Ina, T-ble
'ost 2-syllale ad!ectives ()*&ent, &.*/der, ,.*0er, $-(py
1 &tress on last syllable
rule example
'ost 2-syllale vers to pre&*/T, to e%(O)T, to de,I2*, to be3I/
There are many two4syllable words in *n"lish whose meanin" and class chan"e with a chan"e in stress. The word
present, for e%ample is a two4syllable word. If we stress the first syllable, it is a noun ("ift# or an ad5ective
(opposite of absent#. But if we stress the second syllable, it becomes a verb (to offer#. 'ore e%amples: the words
export, import, contract and o!ect can all be nouns or verbs dependin" on whether the stress is on the first or
second syllable.
" Stress on penultimate syllale (penultimate 6 second from end#
rule example
7ords endin" in -ic 3)-($ic, "eo3)-($ic, "eo.O3ic
7ords endin" in -sion and -tion tele0Ision, reve.-tion
8or a few words, native *n"lish spea9ers don:t always "a"ree" on where to put the stress. 8or e%ample, some
people say tele#$sion and others say %E&evision. -nother e%ample is: 'O(troversy and con%ROversy.
) Stress on ante-penultimate syllale (ante4penultimate 6 third from end#
rule example
7ords endin" in -cy, -ty, -phy and -gy de'Ocracy, dependaBIlity, phoTO"raphy, "eO.o"y
7ords endin" in -al ,)Itical, "eo.O3ical
* 'ompound words (words with two parts#
rule example
8or compound nouns, the stress is on the first part B.-,;bird, 3)**/house
8or compound ad!ectives, the stress is on the second part bad4T*'pered, old48-&$ioned
8or compound vers, the stress is on the second part to under&T-/2, to over8.O7
Why is Word Stress $mportant+
7ord stress is not used in all lan"ua"es. &ome lan"ua"es, <apanese or 8rench for e%ample, pronounce each syllable
with e=4ual em4pha4sis.
Other lan"ua"es, *n"lish for e%ample, use word stress.
7ord stress is not an optional e%tra that you can add to the *n"lish lan"ua"e if you want. It is part of the
language> *n"lish spea9ers use word stress to communicate rapidly and accurately, even in difficult conditions. If,
for e%ample, you do not hear a word clearly, you can still understand the word because of the position of the stress.
Thin9 a"ain about the two words photograph and photographer. /ow ima"ine that you are spea9in" to
somebody by telephone over a very bad line. ?ou cannot hear clearly. In fact, you hear only the first two syllables
of one of these words, photo... 7hich word is it, photo"raph or photo"rapher@ Of course, with word stress you will
9now immediately which word it is because in reality you will hear either ,-Oto... or pho%O... &o without
hearin" the whole word, you probably 9now what the word is ( ,-Oto...graph or pho%O...grapher#. It:s ma"ic>
(Of course, you also have the :conte%t: of your conversation to help you.#
This is a simple e%ample of how word stress helps us understand *n"lish. There are many, many other e%amples,
because we use word stress all the time, without thin9in" about it.
Where do $ ,ut Word Stress+
There are some rules about which syllable to stress. But...the rules are rather complicated> (robably the best way to
learn is from e%perience. .isten carefully to spo9en *n"lish and try to develop a feelin" for the "music" of the
lan"ua"e.
7hen you learn a new word, you should also learn its stress pattern. If you 9eep a vocabulary boo9, ma9e a note to
show which syllable is stressed. If you do not 9now, you can loo9 in a dictionary. -ll dictionaries "ive the phonetic
spellin" of a word. This is where they show which syllable is stressed, usually with an apostrophe (:# 5ust efore or
5ust after the stressed syllable. (The notes at the front of the dictionary will e%plain the system used.# .oo9 at (and
listen to# this e%ample for the word plastic. There are 1 syllables. &yllable A1 is stressed.
example
phonetic spelling.
dictionary /
phonetic spelling.
dictionary 0
,&/S %$'
1pl2s3t$41 13pl2s t$41