Word Stress

In English, in one word with 2 or more syllables, we accentuate ONE syllable.

1. One word, one stress.
2. The stress is always on a vowel
TEACHer, JaPAN, CHINa, aBOVE, converSAtion, INteresting, imPORTtant, deMAND,
PHOtograph - syllables 2, accent 1st
phoTOgrapher - syllables 4, accent 2nd
photoGRAPHic - syllables 4, accent 3rd
The rules on where to put the words stress can be complicate. Its best to listen for stress. When
you learn a new word, key on to where the stress is in the word.
Rules.
1. One word, one stress
2. We stress the vowels, not consonants.
For two syllables words.
1) st syllable stress on nouns and adjectives.
2) 2nd syllable stress on verbs
Nouns - PRESent, EXport, CHIna, TAble, WALlet, HELmet,
Adjectives - SLENder, CLEVer, HAPpy
Verbs - preSENT, exPORT, deCIDE, beGIN
*Native know just by how you say the word if its a noun/adjective or a verb.
PRESent vs preSENT IMport vs imPORT CONtract vs conTRACT OBject vs obJECT
Stress on the second to last syllable
1) Words ending in -ic , -sion , -tion
*This rule has exception
Stress on the third to last syllable
1) Word ending in -cy, -ty, -phy & -gy
2) Word ending in -al
deMOcracy, dependaBIlity, phoTOgraphy, geOLogy
CRItical geoLOGical
Compound words
1) Compound noun - 1st syllable BLACKbird, GREENhouse, TREAsurechest
2) Compound adjective - 2nd part ill-TEMpered, old-FASHioned
3) Compound verbs - 2nd part underSTAND overFLOW

Sentence Stress in English.

How native can understand English spoke really fast.
Sentence stress what gives English its rhythm or beat. You remember that word stress is accent
on one syllable within a word. Sentence stress is accent on certain words in a sentence.
Most sentence have two types of words:
1) Content words - key words in a sentence that carrying meaning sense of the sentence
2) Structure words - small simples words that make the sentence grammatically correct/ give the
sentence its structure
If you remove the content words from a sentence, you will NOT understand the setence. The
sentence has no sense or meaning.
SELL CAR GONE FRANCE
SELL my CAR Ive GONE to FRANCE
will you SELL my CAR because Ive GONE to FRANCE?
Theres an equal a most of time between each stressed word in English. This means unstressed
words between stressed words are spoken either slowly or quickly to maintain equal distance
between stressed words
SELL my CAR Ive GOVE to FRANCE
SELL (1syll) my CAR (2syll) Ive GONE (1syll) to FRANCE
* ive said quickly
will you SELL my CAR because Ive GONE to FRANCE
(2) will you SELL (1) my CAR (3) because Ive GONE (3) to FRANCE
* my & to are said slowly & because ive is said quickly
I am a proFESsional phoTOgrapher whose MAIN INterest is to TAKE SPEcial, BLACK and
WHITE PHOtographs that exHIBit ABstract MEANings in their photoGRAPHic STRUCture.
Rules:
1) Content words are stressed
2) Structure words are unstressed
3) The time between stressed words are equal
Content words
1) Main verbs
2) Nouns
3) Adjectives
4) Adverbs - quickly, loudly, never
5) Negative auxiliaries - Dont, Arent, Cant

Structure words
1) Pronouns - he, we, they
2) Prepositions - on, at, into, below, over, maybe
3) Articles
4) Conjunctions
5) Auxiliary verbs - do, be, have, can, must
*Many exceptions to the rules.
No, THEY havent, but WE have.
The WOman WENT to the STAtion and WAITed unTIL the TRAIN aRRIVEd.
i HAVE to GO to SCHOol.
i WANT my BROther to WIN
its NOT the BEST IDEA
id LIKE you to JOIN us for DINner
MAny of the STUdents are GOing to vaCAtion toMOrrow
Linking in English
This is when you link or join words together in a sentence.
Two types of linking:
1) Consonant -> Vowel - link words ending with a consonant sound to words beginning with a
vowel sound
2) Vowel -> Vowel - link words ending with a vowel sound to words beginning with a vowel
sound.
*Remember its consonant and vowel sounds. Uniform - Y sound consonant paY - A sound
vowel
Linking Consonant to Vowel
When a words ends in a consonant sound, we often move the consonant sound to the beginning
of the next word if it starts with a vowel sound.
Turn off -> Tur noff
Stop it -> Sto pit STA pit
I need it -> I nee dit
Read a book -> Rea da book
Can I have a bit of egg? -> Ca-nI ha-va- bi-to-fegg?
Including all the pronunciation tips we have learned so far.
Stressed words? Can I have a BIT of EGG
Pronunciation?
Reduction/Sw

ca-nI ha-va BID-o f-EGG?

c*-nI h*-v* BID-* f-EGG?
Linking Vowel to Vowel
When on word ends with a vowel sound and the next word begins with a vowel sound, we link
the words with a sort of W or Y sound.
Rule:
1) If our lips are round at the end of the first word, we insert W sound.
2) If our lips are wide at the end of the first word, we insert a Y sound.
The W sound insert:
too often -> toowoften
who is -> whowis
so I -> sowI
do all-> dowall
Y sound insert:
I am -> Iyam
Kay is -> Kayyis
the end -> theyend
She asked -> Sheyasked
Play a song -> Playya song
**Consonant -> Consonant
When words end in a cononant sound and the following word begins with the same or similar
consonant sound. You only pronounce the sound once by lengthening or holding sound
Best time -> Bestime
a big grape -> bigrape
good day -> gooday
*sit down -> sidown
H- deletion
He -> e
him -> im
his -> iz
her -> er
has -> az
have -> av
Stressed Syllables and the Schwa Sound.
Stressed Syllables
The important words and syllables in a sentence are said with extra energy in English.

This is called stressed of the tonic accent.

In the following sentence the stressed syllables are written in capital letters.
The WOman WENT to the STAtion and WAITed unTIL the TRAIN aRRIVEd.
The Schwa Sound.
This is the most frequent vowel sound in Englihs. Its the sound in most unstressed syllables.
Here is the phonemic symbol for the schwa: /e/
(There is also a schwi, an unstressed i, and a schwoo, an unstressed oo.)
The schwa is what remains when you remove almost all the energy from a vowel.
Its the sound you dont hear. Its also called the Neutral e.
Many grammar words have two pronunciations.
One strong, stressed full vowel sound, used to emphasis the word, and another, unstressed, schwa
sound.
The second sound is the most common in natural speech.
The schwa sound can be written with many different letters. In the following sentence all the
letters colored yellow are examples of the schwa sound.
ThE womAn went tO thE statIOn And waitEd Until thE train Arrived.