MTSL 516 Technology

English words always have one part (syllable) that is stressed more strongly than others, this is called the primary stress.  Correct primary stress helps the listener to understand your speech.The primary stress can change the meaning of words with the same spelling. 

There are patterns that can help us guess word stress:

1.Almost all two-syllable nouns have stress on the first syllable. For example, REcord, INcrease, REfund.  Also, compound (two word) nouns have stress on the first word. For example, CELLphone, CAR park, LAPtop. 

2.Most two-syllable verbs have stress on the second syllable. For example, preSENT, rePEAT, deCREASE. Two-word verbs have stress on the second word. For example, clean UP, print OUT, look UP.