WORD STRESS

1. (1) Most two-syllable that end with “-er”, “-ar”, and “-ure” have their primary stress on the first syllable. e.g. méager whísper pónder útter éager hóver

2. (2) A large group of disyllabic words, which may be used either as nouns or verbs, have a difference in stress to indicate the difference in usage. In such cases, the noun ordinarily has primary stress on the first syllable and the verb on the second. N: cónduct V: condúct

3. (3) Words that end with suffixes “-oon”, “-eer”, “-ee” and “-ette” usually have primary stress on these suffixes. e.g. ballóon enginé brunétte

4. (4) When the prefixes are added to English words, the position of the primary stress often remains unchanged. e.g. anti- sócial antisócial

5. (5) Words with the endings “-ic”, “-ical”, “-ious” (“eous”), “-ual”, “-ion”, “-ity”, “-ian”, “-ify”, “-graphy”, and “-logy” usually have primary stress on the first syllable preceding these endings. e.g. -ic: automátic

6. (6) Most two-syllable words that end with “-ace”, “-ess”, “-ice”, and “-is” have primary stress on the first syllable. e.g. pálace

7. (7) Most polysyllables that end with “-ate” and “-ive” are normally stressed on the third syllable from the last. -ate: appréciate

8. (8) Many polysyllables ending with “-itude” have primary stress on the syllable before “-itude” e.g. áttitude

9. (9) Compound nouns ordinarily have primary stress on the first component and secondary stress on the second component. e.g. bláckbìrd

10. (10) Compound verbs usually have primary stress on the second component and secondary stress on the first component. e.g. òverflów

11. (11) Two-word verbs ordinarily have primary stress on the second component or the particle and secondary stress in the first component or the verb itself.

12. (12) Compound adjectives have two stress patterns: primary-secondary (1-2) and secondary primary (1-2) 1-2: blóodthìrsty bréathtàking