Basic word stress rules in English

Basic word stress rules and examples for illustration.

1. Stress on the first syllable
Most two-syllable nouns and adjectives have stress on the first syllable
VD: `butter, `pretty
2. Stress on the last syllable
Most two-syllable verbs have stress on the last syllable
VD: be`gin , pro`duce
3. Stress on the penultimate syllable (âm giámcuối , second from the end )
– Words ending in ( ic ) : s`tatic , rea`listic
– Words ending in ( sion , tion ) : tele`vision , so`lution
4. Stress on anti-penultimate syllable ( third from the end )
– words ending in ( cy, ty , phy, gy ) : de`mocracy , relia`bility
– Words ending in ( al ): `critical , eco`nomical
5. Polysyllabic words ( words with many syllables )
These usually have more than one stress, primary stress, and secondary stress
– Inter`national , antibi`otic , ( often such words contain a prefix as with [ inter -] and [ anti-] [ above-]) and this prefix has the secondary stress ( this is common with many long technical words )
6. Compound words ( words with two parts ) if the compound is a noun, the stress goes on the first part
– `Green house , `blackbird
– If the compound is an adjective, the stress goes on the second part: bad-`temper ; old-`fashioned
– If the compound is a verb, the stress goes on the second part: under`stand , over`look.