All words of more than one syllable have what is called word stress. This means that at least one of the syllables is
l o n g e r and louder

than the other syllables.

In the following examples, stressed syllables are in capital letters:
audio

Column A	Column B	Column C
PHOtograph	phoTOgraphy	photoGRAphic
PENcil	comMITtee	volunTEER
MARyland	soCIety	inforMAtion

In many cases, word stress must simply be learned as new volcabulary is acquired. However, there are several rules for word stress which can make it easier to deal with.

I. Compound Nouns:

Listen to the following compound nouns. Can you hear the word stress?
audio

	bluebird
	blackboard
	notebook
	bookstore
	toothbrush
	keyboard

In each of these examples, the first part of the compound gets the stress.

II. Noun+Noun Compounds (2-word compound nouns)

Listen to the following noun+noun compounds. Can you hear which part of the compound gets more stress?
audio

	air conditioner
	computer programmer
	nail polish
	french fry
	Geiger counter
	doctor's office

Similar to the rule for compound nouns, the first part of the compound--here, the first word--gets the stress. (Note: If the "unstressed" part of the noun+noun compound is more than one syllable, it will have some word stress. However, the first part of the compound will get even more stress.)

III. Phrasal Verbs versus Compound Nouns derived from phrasals

Phrasal verbs (a.k.a. two-word or two-part verbs) are generally made up of a verb and preposition. For many of these, correct word stress is especially important as they have compound noun counterparts. In the following examples, the words on the left are phrasal verbs. The words on the right are nouns.

Listen to these examples.
audio

let down	letdown
shut out	shutout
print out	printout
turn off	turnoff
take over	takeover

In phrasal verbs, the preposition gets the word stress. If they have a noun counterpart, however, it gets the stress on the first part.

IV. Homographs
Homographs are words which are written the same way but which have different pronunciation. In English, there are many words which have the same spelling, but whose part of speech changes with the word stress. If you listen carefully, you will hear that the vowel sounds change depending on whether they are stressed or unstressed.

audio

VERB	NOUN
record	record
progress	progress
present	present
permit	permit

This page brought to you by Sharon Widmayer and Holly Gray. For more information, please e-mail

last updated 2/26/02

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Rules of Word Stress in English

There are two very simple rules about word stress:

One word has only one stress. (One word cannot have two stresses. If you hear two stresses, you hear two words. 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 long words.)
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, because there 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, to beGIN

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 a noun (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, contract and object can all be nouns or verbs 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 people say 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 in -cy, -ty, -phy and -gy	deMOcracy, dependaBIlity, phoTOgraphy, geOLogy
Words ending in -al	CRItical, geoLOGical

5 Compound words (words with two parts)

rule	example
For compound nouns, the stress is on the first part	BLACKbird, GREENhouse
For compound adjectives, the stress is on the second part	bad-TEMpered, old-FASHioned
For compound verbs, the stress is on the second part	to underSTAND, to overFLOW