Word Stress in English Pronunciation

Introduction

• Word Stress Importance: Understanding word stress is crucial for clear and accurate English pronunciation.
• Phonetic Transcription: Use dictionaries to find the stressed syllable marked by an apostrophe before it.

Word Stress Rules

Rule 1: Two-Syllable Nouns and Adjectives

• Nouns: Stress the first syllable.
  • Examples: campus, county, maker
• Adjectives: Stress the first syllable.
  • Examples: happy, pretty, royal

Rule 2: Two-Syllable Verbs

• Stress the second syllable.
  • Examples: repeat, collect, forgive

Rule 3: Words as Nouns and Verbs

• Noun: Stress the first syllable.
  • Example: record
• Verb: Stress the second syllable.
  • Example: record
• Exceptions: respect (stress second syllable), question (stress first syllable)

Rule 4: Suffixes "-ic", "-tion"

• Stress the penultimate syllable.
  • Examples: static, induction, television

Rule 5: Other Suffixes "-cy", "-phy", "-gy"

• Stress the antepenultimate syllable (third from last).
  • Examples: democracy, cinematography, analogy

Rule 6: Compound Nouns

• Stress the first part of the compound noun.
  • Examples: greenhouse, bluebird

Rule 7: Adjective + Noun Combinations

• Stress the noun.
  • Examples: nice person, big shoes

Rule 8: Phrasal Verbs

• Stress the particle (second word).
  • Examples: put up, get on, come back

Common Mistakes

• Hotel: Stress second syllable.
• Guitar: Stress second syllable.
• Exam: Stress last syllable.
• Afternoon: Stress noon.
• Catholic: Stress cath-.
• Understand: Stress second syllable.
• Interesting: Stress first syllable.
• Development: Stress second syllable.
• Realize: Stress first syllable.

Resources

• Free PDF: Download the summary and rules from the provided link.