Word stress Mental map

Word stress Mental map

1. What is Word Stress?

   • Relative emphasis that may be given to certain syllables in a word, or to certain words in a phrase or sentence.
   • We say one syllable very loudly (big, strong, important) and all the other syllables very quietly.

2. Word Stress Rules

   • One word has only one stress
   • We can only stress vowels, not consonants.
     • Stress on first syllable
       • Most 2-syllable nouns
       • Most 2-syllable adjectives
     • Stress on last syllable
       • Most 2-syllable verbs
   • Stress on penultimate syllable
     • Words ending in -ic
     • Words ending in -sion and -tion
   • Stress on ante-penultimate syllable
     • Words ending in -cy, -ty, -phy and -gy
     • Words ending in -al
   • Compound words
     • compound nouns, the stress is on the first part.
     • compound adjectives, the stress is on the second part.
     • compound verbs, the stress is on the second part.