Change word meanings with SYLLABLE STRESS

Hello. This is Gill at www.engvid.com,

and today, we're going to be having a look at

a very interesting aspect of the English language:

What happens with some words if you stress

a different syllable. Okay? This is quite important, because sometimes the change of

stress just changes a noun to a verb, or a verb to a noun, but there are some other words

which we will also be looking at where the meaning of the word completely changes

if you change which syllable you're stressing. Okay. So this is quite important to be clear

on which syllable to stress for the particular meaning that you want. Okay.

So, we're going to start with the easier part, which is a two-syllable word, so two syllables:

"mm-mm, mm-mm",

two syllables where if you stress it

on the first syllable where I've put capital letters, it's the noun;

and if you stress it on the second syllable, again,

capital letters, it becomes the verb.

The general meaning is the same with this group

of words, but you're changing from noun to verb when you're changing the stress. Okay?

So it's important to know whether you're saying a noun or a verb. So remember it's always

the first stress syllable is the noun, second syllable stressed is the verb.

Okay, so let's have a look at the example, here.

So, a "RE-cord", if you keep a record

of something or if you play a record that has music on it in the days when we used to

have black plastic records that went round and round on a gramophone or a record player.

A "record" is something recorded, or if you write down in a document, you make a note

of something, you make a... You keep a record of something that happened, or something that

was agreed. Maybe in a meeting somebody keeps a note of the discussion of the meeting, and

then they print it out and send it to everyone who was at the meeting as a record of that

meeting, what was discussed, what was agreed, and so on. So, the "record", that's the noun:

"the record", "a record" is the noun. But if you then change the stress and say: "re-CORD",

that becomes the verb. We are going to record a song. So if you're making a CD, now, rather

than a black plastic record that goes around, a CD, we are going to record the new song

that we've written. Or at the meeting, we will record the agreement. So, that is the

verb, the action of recording. If you say: "recording", "recording", it's the "cord"

bit that you stress. But a record is the thing itself, the noun. Okay.

And you'll also notice the vowel sound changes slightly, because you're changing the stress. So:

"record",

"eh", the "eh" sound, but "record", "a", it becomes an "a" sound, here.

"RE-cord", "re-CORD",

so sometimes with the change of stress, the vowel sound changes, too. Okay.

Right, next one:

"SUS-pect" and "sus-PECT".

Right? So, "suspect", if someone is a suspect,

they are usually, maybe the police think that they committed a crime. We have caught the

suspect. We are questioning a suspect of someone who maybe stole something from a shop, and

then somebody identifies them later, and that is a suspect. So that's the noun, the person,

usually, is a suspect. If you suspect someone, if you do the action of suspecting, the police

suspect this person of having committed that crime. So, we suspect, if you do the action

of suspecting. So: "SUS-pect" is the noun, "sus-PECT" is the verb, the action of having

suspicion about somebody. Okay.

"IM-port" and "im-PORT".

An import or the import is some product that is imported from

one country to another. We have imports. The goods themselves, the products, which arrive

by plane, or ship, that's the import. Okay? The thing itself. But the action is we import

these goods on a daily basis. We are importing the goods. So the action is import. All right?

An "IN-sult", that is an insult. If somebody says something bad to you, they say:

"Oh, you don't look very nice today. I don't like what you're wearing. It's terrible.

I don't like your hair. I don't like anything about you."

That's an insult. That's a really...

Not very nice thing to say to anybody. So, they make... They make an insult. That's the

thing itself that they say, the noun. And then the action is they have insulted you,

that was... And you might say to them:

"Please don't insult me. Please don't insult me."

So that's the action or telling them not to do that action.

"Please don't insult me."

All right.

A "CON-flict", like with a war, people fighting. There was a conflict today in the street.

There were people fighting in the street. There was a conflict, and the police had to

come and stop... Stop it happening. So that's the a-... The actual situation, so that's

the noun, "a conflict", an actual thing that was there happening.

But when people "con-FLICT",

that's the verb, the action, so these people fighting in the street with their conflict,

they were have... They were conflicting. So they were doing that action. They conflict.

All right.

"PER-mit". So, if you're maybe travelling from one country to another, sometimes you

need a permit to travel, so a document, maybe with your photograph on. I have my permit,

here, with my photograph on. So, the person at the border might want to check your passport,

your other documents, your visa, your permit, your permission to be there to come into that

country, your permit. So it's a thing, a document, a noun. But then the activity at the border

will "per-MIT" you to enter the country. They will permit you. So that's the action, the

permission. They will permit you. So I have my permit, so they should permit me to enter.

Okay?

And then finally for this section:

a "RE-ject" is the thing in a factory, often, when things

are made in a factory, sometimes things go wrong and some of the items manufactured in

the factory, they come along the conveyer belt, and there are people called

quality control inspectors who check to make sure every item

is right, that everything has come

out well. Sometimes, though, there's something with... It hasn't come out right; there's

something missing, that's damaged, so it's a reject. So they might take it off the conveyer

belt and throw it in a box, so it's a reject. There's something wrong with it. That's the

thing. But the action that they do in removing it and throwing it into a box, they are "re-JECTing"

that item, that's the action. They reject the item.

So they reject the reject. Okay?

So, on that happy note, we'll move on to the second set of words. Okay.

Okay, so moving on to our second set of words, we're looking at some changes of meaning,

but this time, there is very little connection in the meaning from one to the other.

So, for example, there's one with three syllables here:

"IN-va-lid" and "in-VAL-id".

Okay? So they're totally different meanings. An invalid is someone who maybe they can't walk very

easily, they're disabled, they may use a wheelchair. An invalid, or they're maybe just temporarily

unable to move around easily. Maybe they had an accident and they're on crutches, something

like that. So an invalid is a person who has been injured or they have difficulty moving,

walking. Okay. So, then "in-VAL-id", that's an adjective meaning not valid. So the "in"

at the beginning means "not". So, if something is invalid, you cannot use it. Maybe your

passport, when you go to another country, you didn't notice that it was out of date,

the date has gone by and you forgot to renew it, and at the border control, they might say:

"I'm sorry, your passport is invalid. You can't use it. You can't come in."

So, that's a completely different meaning from someone who's... Has difficulty moving around.

So, "invalid", okay?

Next one: "CON-tent" and "con-TENT".

Right. Now, the content of something is what is inside

it. If you have a box with things inside, it contains those things, so the content or

contents with an "s". Or the content of a document, what's in the document. That's the

meaning of "content", what is in something. So that's a noun. Okay?

If you are content, that's an adjective describing how you are.

If I'm content, I'm happy, comfortable, enjoying myself.

"I'm very content", you can say.

"I'm really content just sitting here, reading a book."

It's a sort of relaxed kind of meaning of happy, just content, just comfortable.

Content. Okay?

Now, next one: "EN-trance" and "en-TRANCE".

So, entrance is a noun. The entrance to a building,

it's where you go in, the entrance, the front door. Entrance.

You enter through the entrance.

So that's a noun. To entrance somebody, so that's a verb...

"I was entranced",

meaning sort of amazed by something. Hypnotized, maybe. Oh, entranced, so put into a trance.

If you know the word "trance", if you're in a trance, someone has hypnotized you. So to

be entranced or to entrance somebody, if you are the hypnotist and you entrance someone,

you put them into a trance. So, that's the verb.

Okay, next one: "REF-use" and "re-FUSE".

The refuse is the rubbish. If you throw your refuse

out once a week and into a dustbin or rubbish bin or refuse bin, and the local council,

the local authority come and collect it, and it goes to a place. So all the rubbish, the

refuse. Okay? But... So that's a noun. But if you refuse something, so that's the verb,

"to refuse", it's to say no to something. Right?

"I refuse... I refuse to go out today. It's raining.

I refuse. No, I'm not going."

Refuse. Okay?

Next one: "OB-ject" and "ob-JECT".

An object, so it's a noun, is a thing. This pen, here,

is an object. There are objects everywhere, so they're nouns.

If you object to something, so that's a verb, you're saying, again, it's a bit like "refuse",

object. You disagree.

You say: "No, I don't agree with that. I object."

If you are at a meeting and they have made

a decision or they want to do something that you don't like, you say:

"No, I object to that. I don't want that to happen." Okay.

"Des-ert" and "des-ERT".

So... So, the desert, a noun, is like a Sahara Desert, huge, hot

area that's just sand, no water. The desert. In the desert. Okay? So that's the noun.

To desert, so it's a verb, if you desert somebody... So, I was with my friend, shopping, and she

saw somebody else she knew and she deserted me and went off with this other friend, so

I was deserted. So, if you desert somebody,

you leave them alone and go somewhere else instead. Okay.

Then finally: "CON-sole" and "con-SOLE",

so this is a noun, the console is usually, it's

a machine where you're looking at a screen, maybe a computer and a keyboard, and controls

and things that you press, buttons. The console, it's a sort of control, a place where you

control something. The console.

If you console someone, so it's a verb, to console someone

is when somebody is upset, unhappy, something bad has happened to them, and so you console

them by maybe put your arm around them, say:

"Don't worry, it'll be okay."

Try to make them feel better and sympathize with them. You're consoling them.

Okay, so I hope that's helpful. And there's a list, here, there are lots more words. I

found all the words I could where this kind of thing happens.

There isn't time in the lesson to go into all of these,

but I've specially written a resource document which is on the

www.engvid.com website where all of this is explained. Okay?

And there is also a quiz in there that you can do.

So please go to the resource sheet, look at all the explanations.

You might want to download it on to your computer, print it out.

It should be a very useful thing to know the differences between these words, and with the different stresses.

So, please go to the website: www.engvid.com to the resource sheet, which includes a quiz,

and if you'd like to subscribe to my YouTube channel, I hope you'll do that, too.

And look forward to seeing you again as soon as possible. Okay?

Bye for now.