English

Pronunciation
Learn Words Stress and Sentence Stress
Introduction to Words and Sentence Stress
Do you know?

English is a stress-timed lang

uage
Stress sound take a bit longer to say What does that mean?
And they happen on a regular beat.
All the unstressed sound are shorter
and they happen off beat.
So these longer
and shorter sound create a rhythm.
 Why is Word Stress Important?
• Mistaken in word stress are a common cause
of misunderstanding in English.

• Stressing a word differently can change the

meaning or type of the word.

For example: we will desert the desert by tomorrow

 Native speakers use DE-sert de-SERT

word stress to communicate rapidly
and accurately, even in difficult
conditions.
 Why is Word Stress Important?
• Stressing the wrong syllable in a word can make the word very difficult to hear and understand.

• Stressing a word differently can change the meaning of type of the word.

• Even if the speaker can be understood. Mistakes with word stress can make the listener feel irritated Or
perhaps even amused, and could be prevent good communication from taking place.

• Some other words:

preSENT PREsent

HOT dog hot DOG

PUpil puPIL
English words
With 2 or more syllables
How to pronounce
word stress?
Stressed
And
Unstressed
How do you say teacher?
Word Stress Rule
 Here 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 exceptions. It is better
to try to "feel" the music of the language and to add the stress naturally.

1. Stress on first syllable

rule example

Most 2-syllable nouns PRESent, EXport, CHIna, TAble

Most 2-syllable adjectives PRESent, SLENder, CLEVer, HAPpy

2. Stress on last syllable

rule example

Most 2-syllable verbs to preSENT, to exPORT, to deCIDE, to beGIN

3. Stress on penultimate syllable (penultimate = second from end)

example
rule
Words ending in -ic GRAPHic, geoGRAPHic,
geoLOGic
Words ending in -sion and - teleVIsion, reveLAtion
tion

For a few words, native English speakers don't always

"agree" on where to put the stress. For example,
some people say teleVIsion and others say TELevision.
Another example is: CONtroversy and conTROversy.
4. Stress on ante-penultimate syllable (ante-penultimate = third from end)

example
rule
Words ending in -cy, -ty, -phy deMOcracy, dependaBility, phoTOgraphy,
and -gy geOLogy
Words ending in -al CRItical, geoLOGical

5. Compound words (words with two parts)

example
Rule
For compound nouns, the stress is on the first BLACKbird,
part GREENhouse
For compound adjectives, the stress is on the bad-TEMpered, old-
second part FASHioned
For compound verbs, the stress is on the to underSTAND, to
second part overFLOW
 Stressing
+
De-stressing

Syllables and Words

RHYTHM

Rhythm is the musicality in English, the up and

down, and the connected speech and linking the
words