Word Stress: Which Syllable Is the Loudest? (A2/B1)
🎙 From the classroom: When I was learning French, I kept stressing the wrong syllable: CAfé instead of caFÉ. French has near-flat stress; English does not. In English, the wrong stress in a word can make it unrecognisable. I teach stress as the skeleton of the word — get it wrong and the body collapses.
💡 The Idea
English words have one main stressed syllable — louder, longer, and clearer than the others. Unstressed syllables are often reduced to a schwa sound. Two-syllable nouns usually stress the first syllable; two-syllable verbs often stress the second. Mark stress with a capital letter.
🗣 Example
📦 Nouns (stress 1st): PREsent · PERmit · REcord · INcrease
🏃 Verbs (stress 2nd): preSENT · perMIT · reCORD · inCREASE
💡 Same spelling, different stress, different meaning: ‘I need a REcord.’ (noun) vs ‘I’ll reCORD it.’ (verb)
🎯 Try It Now!
Mark the stress on these words. Use CAPITALS for the stressed syllable:
- hotel 2. teacher 3. decide
- English 5. computer 6. photograph
Listen to yourself saying each word. Which syllable feels heavier?
✅ Check Your Answers
✅ Answers: (1) hoTEL (2) TEACHer (3) deCIDE (4) ENGlish (5) comPUter (6) PHOtograph. Say them aloud and exaggerate the stressed syllable. That’s the right technique — English speakers DO exaggerate stress.
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