Welcome to Step 4: Learn the Stress
When you listen to spoken English, you might notice that some parts of words sound louder and longer than others. These are stressed syllables, the beats of the word that carry the most energy. Stress is stric If you learn to hear and use syllable stress correctly, your English will sound clearer, more natural, and easier for others to understand. If you ignore stress, even if your grammar and vocabulary are perfect, your speech can sound flat or confusing.
So what exactly is syllable stress, and how can you start mastering it?
Now that you know what a syllable is, let’s learn syllable stress.
What is syllable stress?
In English, one syllable in every word is gets the most stress— it’s the one you say more strongly than the others.
When we stress a syllable, we do three main things:
- Say it louder – it has more volume.
- Hold it longer – the vowel lasts a bit more time.
- Use a higher pitch – your voice goes slightly higher.
Try saying these pairs aloud and notice which syllable feels stronger:
- ta/ble → stress on the first syllable
- be/gin → stress on the second syllable
- com/pu/ter → stress on the middle syllable
The stressed syllable stands out clearly. If you change the stress, it can sound strange or even like a different word. Try saying the three examples, moving the stress to a different syllable:
- ta/ble or ta/ble
- be/gin or be/gin
- com/pu/ter or com/put/ter or com/pu/ter
As you can see, putting the stress on the wrong syllable can make a normal word, one you probably already know, sound silly or strange. That would be bad enough, but it's actually more important than that.
Why does syllable stress matter?
As you've already seen, syllable stress is crucial to understanding the meaning of what you are reading. It's not a frill. In fact, for some words, changing the stressed syllable changes the meaning of the word. Happily, that's not true for all words but for many.
Here’s an example of how changing stress can change meaning:
- con/duct (means behavior "My coach did not like my con/duct at the game."
- con/duct "I will con/duct the band at the next game."
Same spelling, but two different meanings because of a change in the stressed syllable.
Here are a couple of other examples:
- con/duct (thing: behavior) versus con/duct (action: to lead)
Stress helps listeners instantly know whether you’re talking about a thing, such as a present, or an action, such as when you might present an idea.
How can you know what to stress?
There are rules, and there are patterns that will help. Trial and error can useful, too. The two best tools for learning syllable stress is listening and speaking. As you learn about stress, you'll begin to notice how it functions as those around you are speaking. You can also record yourself speaking naturally, and you'll find it there. The more you practice listening, the more you'll hear it.
Your vocabulary is another factor in learning stress. If a word is already part of your speaking vocabulary, then you already know how it is pronounced though you may have never seen it written. Thus, when you decode a new word, breaking it into syllables, you're likely to know which syllable is stressed.
What happens when a syllable isn't stressed?
Stressed syllables are louder, longer, and more clear. Unstressed syllables are quieter, quicker, and less clear. In fact, we have a specific term for vowel sounds in unstressed syllables. It's called the schwa, and it's the most spoken sound in English. You'll learn the reason for this in Step 4.2.
You'll also learn a second type of stress that's common: word stress in sentences.