Word Stress
Let's Learn!
What is word stress?
In English, we do not say each syllable with the same force or strength. In one word, we accentuate
one syllable. We say one syllable very loudly (big, strong, important) and all the other syllables
very quietly.
Let's take these 3 words as example: photograph, photographer and photographic. Do theysound the same when spoken? No. Because we accentuate (stress) one syllable in each word. And
it is not the same syllable. So the 'shape' of each word is different.
Say these words.
•PHO-to-graph= 3 syllables, stress on #1•

pho-TO-graph-er= 4 syllables, stress on #2•

pho-to-GRAPH-ic= 4 syllables, stress on #3

This happens in all words with 2 or more syllables: TEACHer, JaPAN, CHIna, aBOVE,
converSAtion, INteresting, imPORtant, deMAND, etCETera. The syllables that are not stressed are
weak or small or quiet.
There are two very important rules about word stress:
1. One word, one stress. (One word cannot have two stresses. So if you hear two stresses, youhave heard two words, not one word. 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 themain stress, and is only used in ling words.)
2. The stress is always on a vowel.
Here are some more, rather complicated, rules that can help you understand where to out thestress. But do not rely on them completely because there are many exceptions.

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Word Stress
A. Stress on the first syllable
ruleexamples

Most 2-syllable nouns

Most 2-syllable adjectives

PREsentEXportCHInaTable

PREsent
SLENder
CLEVerHAPpy

B. Stress on last syllable
ruleexamples

Most 2-syllable verbs

preSENTexPORTdeCIDE
beGIN

C. Stress on penultimate syllable (penultimate = second from end)
ruleexamples

Words ending in -ic

GRAPHic
geoGRAPHic
geoLOGic

Words ending in -sion and -tion

teleVIsion
reveLAtion

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Word Stress
D. Stress on ante-penultimate syllable (ante-penultimate = third from end)rule

examplesWords ending in -cy, -ty, -phyand -gy

deMOcracy
dependaBIlityphoTOgraphy
geOLogy

Words ending in -al

CRIticalgeoLOGical

E. Compound words (words with two parts)
ruleexamples

For compound nouns, the stress ison the first part

BLACKbirdGREENhouse

For compound adjectives, the stressis on the second partbad-TEMpered
old-FASHioned

For compound verbs, the stress ison the second part

underSTAND
overFLOW

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Word Stress
Let's Try!
For each question, the correct choice is the one in which the stressed is capitalized. Read eachsentence and choose the letter of the right answer.
1. She looks amazing in this photograph.
a. PHO-to-graphb. pho-TO-graph
2. Whose computer is this?
a. com-PU-terb. com-pu-TER
3. Can you pass me a plastic spoon?
a. PLAS- tic
b. plas-TIC
4. Couldn't you understand what he was saying?
a. un-DER-standb. un-der-STAND
5. I was born in Brazil.
a. BRA-zil
b. bra-ZIL
6. Voting in elections is one of your most important duty.
a. im-POR-tantb. im-por-TANT
7. I can't decide which book to buy.
a. DE-cideb. de-CIDE
8. How do you pronounce this word?
a. PRO-nounceb. pro-NOUNCE
9. My brother wants to become a photographer.
a. PHO-to-graph-er
b. pho-TO-graph-er
10. We had a really interesting conversation last night at the bar.
a. con-VER-sa-tion
b. con-ver-SA-tion

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