One syllable in every English word is spoken with more force, length, and pitch than the others. This is called the stressed syllable.
Stressing the wrong syllable can make a word unrecognisable. A stressed syllable is: louder, longer, clearer, and often at a higher pitch than unstressed syllables.
📌2-syllable nouns/adjectives: stress usually falls on the FIRST syllable — TA-ble, HAP-py, MU-sic
📌2-syllable verbs/prepositions: stress usually falls on the SECOND syllable — be-GIN, a-BOVE, de-CIDE
📌Compound nouns: stress falls on the FIRST element — BLACK-bird, FOOT-ball, AIR-port
📌Words ending in -tion, -ic, -ical: stress falls on the syllable BEFORE the suffix — na-TION, pho-NET-ic
Stress Visualizer
See the Stress Pattern
The highlighted block is the stressed syllable — bigger, bolder. Click each word to hear it.
2-syllable noun
TAstressed
bleunstressed
2-syllable verb
beunstressed
GINstressed
3-syllable word
baunstressed
NAstressed
naunstressed
Noun vs. Verb Stress
REcord vs reCORD
Some English words are spelled the same but stressed differently depending on whether they are a noun or a verb.
Noun
RE·cord
/ˈrekərd/
"Play the record."
Verb
re·CORD
/rɪˈkɔːrd/
"Please record the show."
Noun
PER·mit
/ˈpɜːrmɪt/
"Show your permit."
Verb
per·MIT
/pəˈmɪt/
"They won't permit it."
Noun
PRE·sent
/ˈprezənt/
"A birthday present."
Verb
pre·SENT
/prɪˈzent/
"Please present your work."
Speaking Practice
Stress It Right
Practise saying these pairs with the correct stress. Record yourself and compare.
Target: REcord (noun) → reCORD (verb)
Remember: When you shift stress, the unstressed syllable becomes reduced — often to a schwa /ə/. In "reCORD" (verb), the first syllable weakens to /rɪ/ or /rə/.
