Word Stress

Stress: It refers to the emphasis on speakers place on specific syllables within a word to help
determine meaning and distinguish individual words during rapid speech. Stress is characterized
by force or intensity (loudness), pitch or tone, and duration.
There are several rules that guides speakers to know when to stress a word.

1. Most two-syllable nouns and adjectives are stressed on the first syllable.
 Always
 Holy
 Better
2. Intensive and Reflexive pronouns receive stress on the second syllable.
 Myself
 Himself
 Yourselves
3. Numbers ending in –teen, receive stress on teen; those ending in –ty are
stressed on the first syllable.
 Thirteen
 Fourteen
 Thirty
4. Words ending in –tion, -sion, -ical, and –ity generally have the primary stress
on the syllable preceding the suffix.
 Historical
 Generosity
 Inversion
5. When a suffix is added to a word, the new form generally retains the stress
on the same syllable as the word from which it is derived.
 Happy – Happiness
 Assign – Assignment
 Lovely – Loveliness

Noun Verb
Present Present
Record Record
Contest Contest
6. Many words show a shift in stress to indicate a noun or a verb use.
7. Compound nouns are generally place the primary stress on the first
component and the secondary stress on the secondary component
 Sunset
 Thanksgiving
 Armchair
8. Compound verbs generally place the primary stress on the second
component.
 Outdo
 Outreach
 Understand
 Name:
Direction: In the sheet of paper, identify the stress on the following words and
use it in a sentence.
1. Intend -
2. Ruler -
3. Ambition -
4. Professor -
5. Gracefully -
6. Information -
7. Nineteen -
8. Political -
9. Colder -
10. Primary -

Name:
Direction: In the sheet of paper, identify the stress on the following words and
use it in a sentence.
1. Intend -
2. Ruler -
3. Ambition -
4. Professor -
5. Gracefully -
6. Information -
7. Nineteen -
8. Political -
9. Colder -
10. Primary -