What is Word Stress?
Word stress is the emphasis given on a particular syllable of a word so as to make its meaning clear and distinguished from other words. Not all languages use word stress though. Japanese and French for instance use equal emphasis on all the syllables of a word. In English, word stress is a vital key in understanding and being understood by others who also use the English language. A good example of an English word where word stress is very important is the word 'rebel'. By looking at its spelling alone, you wouldn't know if it is used as a verb or a noun. However, if it is said, depending on where the speaker puts the stress on it, you would immediately know its meaning.
Rules of Word Stress
There are many rules about using word stress in English but I'm going to start with the simplest first. There are 2 general rules of word stress in English:
*Each word has only one main stress. In short words, there is only one stress. In longer words, there might be a secondary stress but there can only be one main/primary stress.
*Only vowels are stressed, not consonants.
Aside from the above mentioned rules, there are other more complicated rules about word stress in English. I will tell you what they are in my next post. However, I do not recommend that you rely on them solely to know where to put the stress on words because there are many exceptions to the rule. The best thing you can do is to get used to the language.
by Trainenglish
*Each word has only one main stress. In short words, there is only one stress. In longer words, there might be a secondary stress but there can only be one main/primary stress.
*Only vowels are stressed, not consonants.
Aside from the above mentioned rules, there are other more complicated rules about word stress in English. I will tell you what they are in my next post. However, I do not recommend that you rely on them solely to know where to put the stress on words because there are many exceptions to the rule. The best thing you can do is to get used to the language.
by Trainenglish