Rules Stress Word PDF

Star Notes
Your step by step path to clear English

Bonus Lesson
Syllable Stress Rules Date: / /
Lesson Outcome: To become more aware of syllable stress rules.

To understand that syllable stress rules are unreliable.
Remember that the best way to learn syllable stress is by paying attention to the syllable
stress that native speakers use.
Learning by listening is better than trying to follow rules because:

1] there are many rules
2] there are many exceptions to each rule.
There are many exceptions to pronunciation rules in English because over many years
English has borrowed words from other languages resulting in varying spelling patterns
and pronunciation. So remember not to rely on the rules. You can check the word stress
with the IPA at http://dictionary.cambridge.org/
Rules that are always true:

In every multi-syllable English word there is one stressed syllable.
Rules that are often true but not always:
1] When a multi-syllable word has a long vowel, usually this is stressed.

Exceptions include the words ‘colleague’ and ‘suburb’.
2] Stress is usually on the first syllable of 2 syllable nouns
'pen/cil 'a/pple 'prin/ter 'Chi/na
and 2 syllable adjectives
'o/pen 'fa/mous ‘cle/ver 'clum/sy
3] Stress is usually on the last syllable of 2 syllable verbs.
to re/'view to de/'cide to be/'gin to o/'bey
Exceptions include ‘to answer’, ‘to borrow’.
PAGE 1
www.starpronunciation.com © G.TAYLOR STAR PRONUNCIATION
Star Notes
Bonus Lesson
Syllable Stress Rules
4] Stress is on the penultimate syllable (penultimate means ‘second from end’) for words
with the endings below:
'gra/phic, ge/o/'gra/phic, a/'ller/gic,

Words ending in -ic
e/'ccen/tric, al/co/'ho/lic
de/mon/'stra/tion, e/du/'ca/tion,
Words ending in -sion and in/for/'ma/tion, re/ve/'la/tion,
-tion so/'lu/tion, a/'dop/tion,
ex/'cur/sion, dis/'cu/ssion
de/'li/cious, 'glo/rious, 'con/scious,

Words ending in -ious
re/pe/'ti/tious, in/'fec/tious
5] Stress on ante-penultimate syllable (ante-penultimate means ‘third from end’) for

words with the endings below:
de/'mo/cra/cy, de/pen/da/'bi/li/ty,
Words ending in -cy, -ty,
pho/'to/gra/phy,
-phy and -gy
ge/'o/lo/gy, 'sa/ni/ty
Words ending in -al 'cri/ti/cal, ge/o/'lo/gi/cal, 'e/thi/cal
'su/per/vise, 'or/ga/nise, 'e/xer/cise,

Words ending in -ise
'ad/ver/tise, 're/cog/nise
co/'mmu/ni/cate, 're/gu/late, a/'ppre/ci/ate,

Words ending in -ate
'cal/cu/late, 'con/cen/trate
See these endings in a pattern:
'e/qual e/'qua/li/ty 'e/qua/lise e/qua/li/'sa/tion
'fi/nal fi/'na/li/ty 'fi/na/lise fi/na/li/'sa/tion
'neu/tral neu/'tra/li/ty 'neu/tra/lise neu/tra/li/'sa/tion
PAGE 2
Star Notes
Bonus Lesson
Syllable Stress Rules

6] Compound nouns usually have the most stress on the stressed syllable of the first
word:
'class / room 'post / o / ffice 'air / port
'Char/tered/A/ccoun/tant 'le / gal / ad / vice 'bus/ness / re / port
7] Phrasal verbs usually have the most stress on the stressed syllable of the second word:
call / 'off carry / 'on look / 'up
o / ver / 'flow up / 'grade break / 'up
8] Compound adjectives usually have the most stress is on the stressed syllable of the
second word.
bright / 'red old / 'fa / shioned well / 'dressed
ea / sy / 'go / ing light / 'green bad / 'tem / pered
9] Homographs.
Homographs are words that are spelled the same yet have different meaning and possibly
different pronunciation. A number of common homographs were covered in Lesson 3 on
Word Stress.
At least 170 verb-noun (or adjective) pairs exist. This can be overwhelming so just check
that you are pronouncing the most common ones correctly. You can see a full list here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_homographs
Homographs often have the stress on the first syllable of a noun /adjective and the sec-
ond syllable of a verb but there are many exceptions to this. It is important to note that
there are a number of homographs that native speakers vary where they put the stress.
For example, some native speakers say te/le/'vi/sion and others say 'te/le/vi/sion, some
say 'con/tro/ver/sy and con/'tro/ver/sy, some say ‘an 'a/ddress’ and some say ‘an add/
'ress’.
A few homographs are pronounced differently depending on region. In Britain, and Aus-
tralia speakers say “a protest” but in America they say “a protest”. For a detailed descrip-
tion of differences in British and American pronunciation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_and_British_English_pronunciation_differences
PAGE 3

Rules Stress Word PDF

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Rules Stress Word PDF

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Rules Stress Word PDF

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Star Notes

Your step by step path to clear English

Syllable Stress Rules Date: / /

Lesson Outcome: To become more aware of syllable stress rules.

Learning by listening is better than trying to follow rules because:

Rules that are always true:

Rules that are often true but not always:

1] When a multi-syllable word has a long vowel, usually this is stressed.

2] Stress is usually on the first syllable of 2 syllable nouns

'pen/cil 'a/pple 'prin/ter 'Chi/na

and 2 syllable adjectives

'o/pen 'fa/mous ‘cle/ver 'clum/sy

3] Stress is usually on the last syllable of 2 syllable verbs.

to re/'view to de/'cide to be/'gin to o/'bey

Exceptions include ‘to answer’, ‘to borrow’.

Syllable Stress Rules

'gra/phic, ge/o/'gra/phic, a/'ller/gic,

de/'li/cious, 'glo/rious, 'con/scious,

5] Stress on ante-penultimate syllable (ante-penultimate means ‘third from end’) for

Words ending in -al 'cri/ti/cal, ge/o/'lo/gi/cal, 'e/thi/cal

'su/per/vise, 'or/ga/nise, 'e/xer/cise,

co/'mmu/ni/cate, 're/gu/late, a/'ppre/ci/ate,

See these endings in a pattern:

'e/qual e/'qua/li/ty 'e/qua/lise e/qua/li/'sa/tion

'fi/nal fi/'na/li/ty 'fi/na/lise fi/na/li/'sa/tion

'neu/tral neu/'tra/li/ty 'neu/tra/lise neu/tra/li/'sa/tion

Syllable Stress Rules

'class / room 'post / o / ffice 'air / port

'Char/tered/A/ccoun/tant 'le / gal / ad / vice 'bus/ness / re / port

call / 'off carry / 'on look / 'up

o / ver / 'flow up / 'grade break / 'up

bright / 'red old / 'fa / shioned well / 'dressed

ea / sy / 'go / ing light / 'green bad / 'tem / pered

You might also like