
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 a lot of 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.
In multi-syllable words the stress
falls on one of the syllables while the other syllables tend to be spoken over
quickly. This leads to sounds that are not clear (muted) on unstressed syllables.
In order to improve your pronunciation, focus on pronouncing the stressed
syllable clearly. However, don't be afraid to "mute" (not say
clearly) the other unstressed vowels. Listen to the examples by clicking on
"listen". Return to this page using the "back" button on
your browser.
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.
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 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.
For example:
Listen
to these specific examples:
PersonNEL
TOtally
InDUstrial
ToMAto
FanTAstic
Unstressed syllables keep the correct sound, but sound
muted. Sometimes, unstressed vowels become a schwa sound - like a soft
"uh" sound.
For example:
Listen
to these specific examples:
Little
Repeat
Tomato
At other times, the vowel is pronounced but not stressed.
For example:
Listen
to these specific examples:
Industrial
Noisily
With this in mind, here are the eight common word stress
patterns in English.
One Syllable - Stressed
All one syllable words have the stress on the one syllable.
The intonation should go down.
Listen
to the general pattern.
EAT
DRINK
SIGN
WELL
Two Syllable - First Syllable Stressed
Listen
to the general pattern and these specific examples:
GIant
PICture
HEAting
Two Syllable - Second Syllable Stressed
Listen
to the general pattern and these specific examples:
toDAY
aHEAD
aLLOW
Three Syllable - First Syllable Stressed
Listen
to the general pattern and these specific examples:
ENergy
Operate
ORganize
Three Syllable - Second Syllable Stressed
Listen
to the general pattern and these specific examples:
meMORial
aSSUMPtion
caNAdian
Three Syllable - Third Syllable Stressed
Listen
to the general pattern and these specific examples:
employEE
japanESE
voluntEER
Four Syllable - Second Syllable Stressed
Listen
to the general pattern and these specific examples:
psyCHOLogy
eVAporate
cerTIficate
Four Syllable - Third Syllable Stressed
Listen
to the general pattern and these specific examples:
poliTIcian
indiVIdual
repuTAtion
More Help with Pronunciation
Lesson Plans focusing on Pronunciation for Teachers
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Kevin Chiedu Okonji
English as 2nd Language Guide
Tweet @kevinchiedu