Word stress rules in English pronunciation

Hi, guys. My name is Jiri.

Knowing how to pronounce new words so that other people understand them

is a vital skill for every English learner.

Today, you will learn about word stress, and how emphasising different

syllables in a word can change its meaning.

This lesson has been inspired by the English Vocabulary in

Use Upper-Intermediate book, an accessible and reliable

high-quality material with lots of vocabulary topics that I found

really easy to use.

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What is word stress?

It’s when a syllable is pronounced with

greater force than other syllables in the same word.

Happy. Ago. Education.

The stress can be placed on any syllable in a word,

so you have to learn how to do this correctly.

But fortunately, there are some word

stress patterns that can help you.

Some two-syllable words in English look the same for the noun and the verb.

And for some of these, when the word is a noun,

the stress is on the first syllable.

Record. Record.

And when it is a verb, the stress is placed

on the second syllable.

To record. Record. Let’s try it out.

Which syllables are stressed in the two record words in this sentence?

I wish I could record a hit record.

Here are some more words like these. Project. To project. Increase.

To increase. Present. To present.

My next project is decorating my room.

We could project the film onto that yellow wall.

Here are some more examples like this, taken from the English Vocabulary in

Use Upper-Intermediate book.

Finally, there are some exceptions.

These words keep the same stress pattern when being nouns and verbs.

Label. To label. Travel. To travel. Answer. To answer.

Multi-syllable words in English tend to put the main

stress on the third syllable from the end.

Arithmetic.

In this case, we count the syllables from the end.

A rith me tic. Arithmetic.

Now, where do I put stress if I add a suffix to this word?

Hmm. A rith me ti cal. Arithmetical.

That’s right.

Biology. Biological. Biological.

Psychologist. Psychological. That’s right.

Although there are plenty of exceptions,

this pattern is very useful.

In this game, you’ll see a sentence like this one.

Choose the right word with the correct stress

pattern from A and B to fill in the blank.

You’ll have five seconds to decide.

He will get a pay increase.

She is studying to become a psychiatrist.

All food products need to be labelled.

You can find more examples in the English Vocabulary

in Use Upper-Intermediate book.

Vocabulary in Use is a trusted resource written by expert

authors so you can quickly find accurate explanations

and exercises you need to succeed in your English-language learning.

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How about you?

Which words do you find difficult to pronounce?

Write us in the comments below. Thank you, and see you next time. Bye.