Rules Of Word Stress In English

Rules of Word Stress in English
There are two very simple rules about word stress:
1. One word has only one stress. (One word cannot have two stresses. If you hear two stresses, you hear twowords. 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 the main [primary] stress, and is only used in longwords.)
2. We can only stress vowels, not consonants.

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, becausethere 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, tobeGIN |
There are many two-syllable words in English whose meaning and class change with a change in stress. The word present, for example is a two-syllable word. If we stress the first syllable, it is anoun (gift) or an adjective (opposite of absent). But if we stress the second syllable, it becomes a verb (to offer). More examples: the words export, import, contractand object can all be nouns orverbs depending on whether the stress is on the first or second syllable.
3 Stress on penultimate syllable (penultimate = second from end)
rule | example |
Words ending in -ic | GRAPHic,geoGRAPHic, geoLOGic |
Words ending in -sion and -tion | teleVIsion, reveLAtion |
For a few words, native English speakers don't always "agree" on where to put the stress. For example, some peoplesay teleVIsion and others say TELevision. Another example is:CONtroversy and conTROversy.
4 Stress on ante-penultimate syllable (ante-penultimate = third from end)
rule | example |
Words ending...