Pronunciation: Word Stress — The Secret of Being Understood (B1)
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B1 ⏱ 5 min
🎤 Pronunciation: Word Stress — The Secret of Being Understood
My French accent in English used to trip people up — not because of the sounds, but the stress. Stress is everything.
📖 Word Stress Rules
English words have one syllable that gets more stress (louder, longer, clearer).
2-syllable nouns → stress on 1st syllable:
TA-ble, MU-sic, CAN-dle, REA-son
2-syllable verbs → stress often on 2nd syllable:
de-CIDE, re-LAX, be-GIN, com-PLETE
Words ending -ion, -ity, -ic → stress on syllable BEFORE the suffix:
in-FOR-ma-tion, e-LEC-tri-ci-ty, e-CO-no-mic
🎯 Same Spelling, Different Stress = Different Meaning
Some words change meaning depending on stress:
PREsent (noun: a gift) vs preSENT (verb: to present something)
REcord (noun: a record) vs reCORD (verb: to record)
PROtest (noun) vs proTEST (verb)
Where is the stress in ‘MUsic’ (2-syllable noun)?
‘They decided to reCORD the lesson.’ Here ‘record’ is used as a:
‘inforMAtion’ — where is the stress?
The noun ‘PROtest’ becomes the verb ‘pro____________’ (stress changes).
2-syllable nouns usually stress the ____________ syllable.
🎤 Stress Practice
teacher / decide / happy / begin / music / relax / paper / complete
Answers: TEAcher / deCIDE / HAppy / beGIN / MUsic / reLAX / PApaper / comPLETE
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