Word Stress - EnglishSolo

🎯 What is Stress in English?

Definition

Stress means to say one part of a word stronger than another part. In English, each word with two or more syllables receives stress.

📋 Examples

after

(ˈæf tər)

AFter

other

(ˈʌð ər)

OTher

provide

(prəˈvaɪd)

proVIDE

never

(ˈnɛvər)

NEVer

develop

(dɪˈvɛl əp)

deVELop

🎼 How to Stress a Syllable

Make the vowel sound longer

Stretch the vowel sound in the stressed syllable compared to unstressed syllables.
Say the syllable (a little) louder

Increase the volume slightly for the stressed syllable.
Increase the pitch

Raise the tone or quality of sound for the stressed syllable.

💡 Note: Pitch is sometimes confused with volume. Pitch is related to tone, or quality of sound, and may be different at the same volume.

Unstressed syllables are weaker, softer, and with decreased pitch. Unstressed syllables in English usually sound like the schwa /ə/.

⚠️ Important: Placing stress correctly is important because the wrong stress can create confusion.

📐 Common Stress Patterns

2️⃣

Two-Syllable Words

Most two-syllable words get stress on the first syllable.

country

(ˈkən tri)

COUNtry

woman

(ˈwʊm ən)

WOman

question

(ˈkwɛs tʃən)

QUEStion

🏠

Compound Nouns

Compound nouns normally get stress on the first syllable.

waterfall

(ˈwɔ tərˌfɔl)

WATERfall

classmate

(ˈklæsˌmeɪt)

CLASSmate

highway

(ˈhaɪˌweɪ)

HIGHway

⚡

Compound Verbs

Compound verbs normally get stress on the second syllable.

overdue

(ˌoʊ vərˈdu)

overDUE

overeat

(ˌoʊ vərˈit)

overEAT

understand

(ˌʌn dərˈstænd)

underSTAND

🪞

Reflexive Pronouns

Reflexive pronouns get stress on the second syllable.

myself

(maɪˈsɛlf)

mySELF

himself

(hɪmˈsɛlf)

himSELF

themselves

(ðəmˈsɛlvz)

themSELVES

🎯 Practice Word Stress

Click a word to practice its stress pattern:

Click any word above to see its stress pattern!