Word Stress Rules

Question 1

Nouns and adjectives with two syllables

Answer 1

The rule: When a noun (a word referring to a person, thing, place or abstract quality) or an adjective (a word that gives information about a noun) has two syllables, the stress is usually on the first syllable.

Question 2

table

Answer 2

table /TA-ble/

Question 3

scissors

Answer 3

scissors /SCI-ssors/

Question 4

pretty

Answer 4

pretty /PRE-tty/,

Question 5

clever

Answer 5

clever /CLE-ver/

Question 6

hotel

Answer 6

hotel /ho-TEL/

Question 7

extreme

Answer 7

extreme /ex-TREME/

Question 8

concise

Answer 8

concise /con-CISE/

Question 9

Verbs and prepositions with two syllables

Answer 9

The rule: When a verb (a word referring to an action, event or state of being) or a preposition (a word that comes before a noun, pronoun or the “-ing” form of a verb, and shows its relation to another word or part of the sentence) has two syllables, the stress is usually on the second syllable.

Question 10

present

Answer 10

present /pre-SENT/

Question 11

export

Answer 11

export /ex-PORT/

Question 12

aside

Answer 12

aside /a-SIDE/

Question 13

between

Answer 13

between /be-TWEEN/

Question 14

Words that are both a noun and a verb

Answer 14

The rule: Some words in English can be both a noun and a verb. In those cases, the noun has its word stress on the first syllable, and with the verb, the stress falls on the second syllable.

Question 15

present

Answer 15

present /PRE-sent/ (a gift) vs. present /pre-SENT/ (give something formally)

Question 16

export

Answer 16

export /EX-port/ (the practice or business of selling goods to another country or an article that is exported) vs. export /ex-PORT/ (to sell goods to another country)

Question 17

suspect

Answer 17

suspect /SU-spect/ (someone who the police believe may have committed a crime) vs suspect /su-SPECT/ (to believe that something is true, especially something bad)

Question 18

Three syllable words ending in “er” and “ly”

Answer 18

The rule: Words that have three syllables and end in “-er” or “-ly” often have a stress on the first syllable.

Question 19

orderly

Answer 19

orderly /OR-der-ly/

Question 20

quietly

Answer 20

quietly /QUI-et-ly/

Question 21

manager

Answer 21

manager /MA-na-ger/

Question 22

Words ending in “ic,” “sion” and “tion”

Answer 22

The rule: When a word ends in “ic,” “sion” or “tion,” the stress is usually on the second-to-last syllable. You count syllables backwards and put a stress on the second one from the end.

Question 23

creation

Answer 23

creation /cre-A-tion/

Question 24

commission

Answer 24

commission /com-MI-ssion/

Question 25

photographic

Answer 25

photographic /pho-to-GRA-phic/

Question 26

Words ending in “cy,” “ty,” “phy,” “gy” and “al”

Answer 26

The rule: When a word ends in “cy,” “ty,” “phy,” “gy” and “al,” the stress is often on the third to last syllable. Similarly, you count syllables backwards and put a stress on the third one from the end.

Question 27

democracy

Answer 27

democracy /de-MO-cra-cy/

Question 28

photography

Answer 28

photography /pho-TO-gra-phy/

Question 29

logical

Answer 29

logical /LO-gi-cal/

Question 30

commodity /com-MO-di-ty/

Answer 30

commodity /com-MO-di-ty/

Question 31

psychology

Answer 31

psychology /psy-CHO-lo-gy/

Question 32

Compound nouns

Answer 32

The rule: In most compound nouns (a noun made up of two or more existing words), the word stress is on the first noun.

Question 33

football

Answer 33

football /FOOT-ball/

Question 34

keyboard

Answer 34

keyboard /KEY-board/

Question 35

Compound adjectives and verbs

Answer 35

The rule: In most compound adjectives (a single adjective made of more than one word and often linked with a hyphen) and compound verbs (a multi-word verb that functions as a single verb), the stress is on the second word.

Question 36

old-fashioned

Answer 36

old-fashioned /old-FA-shioned/

Question 37

understand

Answer 37

understand /un-der–STAND/