Word stress in English

English is an accent-based language, and that in a word not all the syllables are pronounced with equal emphasis. Native speakers of English would not generally listen to the weak syllables instead they listen to stressed syllables. Hence it is imperative for us to be aware of the rules that decide which word is to be stressed where.  A syllable always has one vowel sound.

Rules: Now, let us see the various word stress rules with examples:

1.Words with weak prefixes are accented/stressed on the root.

Eg: a'go, be'low, a'bove, ad'mit

2.Verbs of two syllables beginning with the prefix dis- are stressed on the last syllable.

Eg: dis'pel, dis'turb, dis'close, dis'miss

3.Verbs that have two syllables and end in –ate, -ise/ize, -ct are stressed on the last syllable.

Eg: at'tract, nar'rate, de'bate, bap'tize

4.Words ending in –ion are stressed on the last bust one syllable.

Eg: appli'cation, intro'duction, exami'nation, explan'ation, simplifi'cation, communi'cation

5.Words ending in –ic/-ical/-ically, -ial/-ially, and –ian are stressed on the syllable before the suffix.

Eg: charis'matic, me'morial, sub'stnatial, mu'sician

6.Words ending in –ious and –eous are stressed on the last but one or penultimate syllable.

Eg: 'curious, mys'terious, 'serious, 'courageous

7.Words ending in –ate, -ise/-ize, -fy are stressed on the third syllable from the end.

Eg: 'duplicate, 'modernize, 'justify

8.Words ending in –ity, -cracy, and –crat are stressed on the third syllable from the end.

Eg: a'bility, de'mocracy, 'autocrat

9.Words ending in –graph/-graphy, -meter, -logy are stressed on the third syllable from the end.

Eg: 'autography, psy'chology, zo'ology, 'paragraph, ba'rometer

10.Words ending with the suffixes –eer, -aire are stressed on the suffix.

Eg: pio'neer, ca'reer, millio'naire, question'naire, billion'naire