Syllable Stress

Stress is the idea that in a word with more than one syllable, one (or more than one) syllable will be stressed and the rest will be unstressed.

In English, not all syllables are created equal. Stressed syllables will be higher in pitch, longer in duration, and generally a little louder than unstressed.

So let's look at some examples:

Chapter

A two syllable word, chapter, which syllable do you think is stressed?

It’s the first syllable!!

'Chapter

Can you hear that it’s louder, and that it’s higher in pitch?

Another example:

Undo

I hope you can hear that here, the stress falls on the second syllable.

Can you notice it?

Does word stress really matter? 

Absolutely. It can affect the pronunciation, it can affect the meaning of a word.

Let’s take for example this word.

Present

As an adjective or a noun, the stress falls on the first syllable. 

And the same word...

As a verb, the stress falls on the second syllable, present.

Note:

So as a noun or adjective, the first vowel is the ‘eh’ as in ‘bed’, and the second syllable, unaccented, is the schwa. In the verb form, however, present, the first vowel, in the unaccented syllable, is the ‘ih’ as in ‘sit’ vowel. And the second vowel in the stressed syllable is the ‘eh’ as in ‘bed’. Present, present. 

SPELLING​

​

#Rule 1: Stress is never on /əʊ//ə/ sounds​

If two these sounds appear in a word, ​the /ʊə/ sound takes on the stress

​Ex: mother UK/ˈmʌð.ər/US/ˈmʌð.ɚ/, hotel /həʊˈtel/

#Rule 2: Stress is usually put on these sounds: ​long vowel sound, dipthongs sound, ending sound contains more than 1 consonant.

Example:

​long vowel sound: disease

​dipthongs sound: explain

​ending sound with 2 consonants: comprehend

#Rule 3: If every single sound in the word is short vowel, the first syllable takes on the stress

Example: animal UK/ˈæn.ɪ.məl/

​

​TWO-SYLLABLE WORDS

​1. Two-Syllable nouns and adjectives

In most two syllable nouns and adjectives, the first syllable takes on the stress.

• SAMples

• CARton

• PURple

• RAIny

• CHIna

• HAPpy

​Exception: camPAIGN, gaRAGE,

giRAFFE, advice, reply, machine, mistake...

alone, abrupt, absorbed, amazed...

​

​

​TWO-SYLLABLE WORDS

​2. Two-Syllable verbs and prepositions

In most two syllable verbs and prepositions, the stress is on the second syllable.

• reLAX

• reCEIVE

• diRECT

• aMONG

• aSIDE

• beTWEEN

• deCIDE

​Exception: LISten, CARry, Open, answer, enter, happen, offer, open...

​THREE-SYLLABLE WORDS

1. Words ending in er, ly

For three-syllable words ending with the suffixes er or ly, the stress is placed on the first syllable. Examples:

• ORderly

• SIlently

• LOvingly

• MAnager

• GARdener

• EAsier

​THREE-SYLLABLE WORDS

2. Words ending in consonants and in y

If there is a word that ends in a consonant or in a y, then the first syllable usually gets the stress. Examples:

• OPtimal

• GRAdient

• GEnorous

SUFFIX

​

Stress is put on the sounds ending with

​

​Exception: comMITee

​COffee

Stress on the second sound from the right

​Exception:

• ​TElevision

• Arabic, arithmatic, Catholic, politics

Stress on the third sound from the right

Stress pattern is remained

PREFIX

​

Stress pattern remained

​a. Prefix

​

* un- : healthy / unhealthy, important / unimportant …

* im- : mature / immature, patient / impatient…

* in- : complete / incomplete, sincere / insincere …

* ir- : relevant / irrelevant, religious / irreligious …

* dis : connect / disconnect, courage / discourage …

* non- : smokers / nonsmokers, violent / nonviolent…

* en- : courage / encourage, vision / envision …

* re- : arrange / rearrange, married / remarried …

* over- : crowded / overcrowded, estimate / overestimate …

* under- : developed / underdeveloped, pay / underpay …

Exception: understatement, undergrowth, underground, underpants

b. Suffix

-ful : beauty / beautiful, wonder / wonderful …

-less : thought / thoughtless, hope / hopeless …

-able : comfort / comfortable, notice / noticeable …

-al : season / seasonal, tradition / traditional …

-ous : danger / dangerous, poison / poisonous …

-ly : similar / similarly, direct / directly …

-er/ -or : actor, worker, reader …/ -ise/ -ize : memorize, modernize, industrialize …

-ing : begin / beginning, suggest / suggesting … -en : length / lengthen, strength / strengthen …

-ment : enjoyment, amusement, government …

-ness : happiness, thoughtlessness … -ship : sportmanship, relationship, scholarship, …/ -hood : neighborhood, brotherhood … strength

​​Word stress for compound words

​

A. Compound noun/ adjective

In a compound noun/ adjective, the most stress is on the syllable of the first word. Examples:

• SEAfood (sea + food)

• ICEland (ice + land)

• TOOTHpaste (tooth + paste)

• FOOTball (foot + ball)

• BAsketball (basket + ball)

• ​Exception: duty-free, snow-white

​​Word stress for compound words

B. Compound adjectives

In compound adjectives, the most stress

is placed in the stressed syllable

of the second word.

• ten-MEter

• rock-SOlid

• fifteen-MInute

• old-FAshioned

  the first word is adj or adv => stress on

• the second syllable ending with V (PII)

  Eg: well-done, well-informed, short-sighted, bad-tempered + ball

​​Word stress for compound words

C. Compound verbs/ adverbs

A compound verb is when a subject has two or more verbs. The stress is on the second or on the last part. Examples:

• upstairs, downstairs, down-grade, ill-treat,…

PHRASAL VERB​

​

​

​a. Phrasal noun: stress on the first syllable

Eg: 'setup (n): sự thu xếp 'upset (n): sự quấy rầy

'holdup (n): vụ cướp 'lookout (n) người xem

'checkout (n): việc thanh toán để rời (Khách sạn,..)

b. Phrasal verb: stress on the second syllable

Eg: to set 'up: thu xếp

to up 'set: làm thất vọng,

to hold 'up: cầm, giữ to check 'out: trả phòng

to look 'out: canh chừng

​​A few things to remember:

​

1. A word can only have one stress. 

In a very long word you can have a secondary stress, but it is always a much smaller stress.

2. Only vowels are stressed, not consonants.

The vowels in English are a, e, i, o, and u. The consonants are all the other letters.