syllable stress in

American English

Words with two or more

syllables
often have one syllable that is
stressed, while the others are
unstressed. For example:
"hotel" (ho-TEL)
"banana" (buh-NA-na)
"elephant" (EL-e-phant)

the stress on the first

syllable
Nouns, adjectives, adverbs,
and verbs often have.
For example:
"TA-ble" (noun)
"HAP-py" (adjective)
"QUICK-ly" (adverb)
"WALK" (verb)

Two-syllable verbs
Can have either the first or second
syllable stressed, depending on
the meaning. Here are some
examples:
"re-CORD" (to save
information) vs. "RE-cord" (a
vinyl disc)
"pre-SENT" (to give) vs. "PRE-
sent" (a gift)

Compound words
Generally maintain the
stress of their individual
words. For example:
"foot-BALL" (combining
"foot" and "ball")
"black-BIRD" (combining
"black" and "bird")

Some suffixes and prefixes in

longer words
can affect the stress
placement. However, there are
no strict rules governing these
cases, and it often depends on
the word itself. For instance:
"DE-fend" (prefix stress)
"pro-TECT" (suffix stress)