Word Stress Interactive English Second Year Intermediate Study Material With Answers

19. Mark the stress for any eight of the following words [8×1/2=4Marks]

Rules Of Word Stress

Rule 1: Words with weak prefixes

World’s beginning with ( a, be, de, re, con) the stress falls on the 2nd syllable.

a	be	de	re	con
a’loud	be‘gan	de‘feat	re‘gret	con‘tinue
a‘bove	be‘came	de‘gree	reb’pay	con’clusion
a‘lone	be‘lief	de‘fence	re’play	con’tent
			re’venge	con’sent

Rule 2: Compound Words

a) A compound word is a word that is composed of two words. in such words, the stress falls on the first syllable

‘toothpaste	‘grandmaster
‘book shop	‘time table
‘foot ball	‘jellyfish

b) Words that ends in ever, self, and selves the stress falls on the second syllable.

ever	self	selves
how ‘ever	your ‘self	them ‘selves
whos ‘ever	my ‘self	our ‘selves
for ‘ever	him ‘self
when ‘ever	it ‘self
what ‘ever	our ‘self

Rule 3: Words which denote number numbers have a specific stress pattern

a) Words which denote numbers and that end in teen the stress falls on teen

Seven‘teen	thir’teen
Can‘teen	fif’teen

b) Words that denote the multiples of tens, the stress falls on the first syllable

‘thirty	‘six-thousand
‘twenty	‘fifty

Rule 4: Suffixes

a) Words that end in ee, ier, ette, queue, and aire the stress falls on the last syllable

ee	eer	ette	que	aire
Emplo’yee	Engi’neer	ga’zette	u’nique	millio ‘naire
addre’ssee	profi’tteer	ciga’rette	o’blique	billio ‘naire
refe’ree	volun’teer	heor’gette	cri’tique
absen’tee	auctio’neer	kitche’nette	an’tique
devo’tee	Pio’neer	suffra’gette	pict’resque
exami’nee	electio’neer		tech’nique

b) Words end in ion ial ie and ious/eous the stress fall on the second syllable from the end

ion	ial	ie	ious/eous
deco’ration	po’tential	patri’otic	no’torious
appli’cation	of’ficial	sympa’thetic	‘conscious
exami’nation	es’sential	aca’demic	cere’monious
prepa’ration	‘social	‘logic	am’bitious
combi’nation	fi’nancial	his’toric	cou’rageous
‘station	re’medial	fa’natic	de’licious
so’lution	‘partial

c) Words that end in ical , ity, ize ,logy and graphy take stress on the third syllable from the end.

ian	ical	ity	ize	logy	graphy
mu’sician	his’torical	a’bility	‘civilize	bio’logy	ge’ography
li’brarian	‘optical	ca’pacity	‘symbolize	zo’ology	bi’ography
co’median	‘practical	oppor’tunity	’emphasize	physi’ology	chore’graphy

Rule 5 : Stress shift

One very important feature of word stress is the stress shift. That is the stress shift when some suffixes are added to a word.
Example : e’conomy e’conomic econo’metrics ‘photograph pho’tographer Photo’graphic

In the above examples you have seen that the edition of a suffix results in stress shift but they are some suffixes which do not affect the stress some of them are

age	ance	ment	er	ess	ship
‘carry	at’tend	‘enlighten	be’gin	‘actor	‘schlor
‘carriage	at’tendance	‘englightenment	be’ginner	‘actress	‘scholarship

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Exercises

1. In the following disyllabic words the stress falls on the first syllable. (Page No 220)

‘apple	‘action	‘atom	‘centre	‘cotton
‘sorry	‘business	‘paper	‘interest	‘lawyer
‘novel	‘nature	‘author	‘common	‘father
‘danger	‘service	‘doctor	‘freedom	‘damage
‘system.	‘water	‘always	‘doubt	‘mother

2. In the following disyllabic words the stress falls on the second syllable. (Page 221)

be’cause	a’round	pre’pare	be’fore	be’gin
can’teen	de’gree	for’give	ma’chine	a’dopt
Ju’ly	su’ccess	ga’rage	de’scribe	a’laram
ex’tract	en’joy	bal’loon	ho’tel	di’rect
com’plete	gar’bage	ca’reer	ab’sent	before

3. Mark the stress on the following words (Page 221)

‘Adjective	a’partment	af’fection	a’bout
‘Botany	‘bachelor	be’hind	be’lieve
‘Capital	con’tainer	col’lector	‘Centre
Cre’ated	con’tinue	‘character	‘comfort
Cer’tificate	con’fusion	‘century	di’rector
Di’spute	de’scribe	en’joy	eigh’teen
For’mation	‘famous	‘government	ho’tel
‘Incident	‘mistaken	‘moment	over’take
‘Perfect	‘question	re’hearsal	sa’lute
To’day	to’morrow	tele’vision	under’stand
A’go	‘victory	‘cinema	‘junior
De’licious	‘excellent	‘happy	‘people

4. You have read the stress rules on suffixes. Follow the rules and mark the stress on the following words. (Page 221)

Pu’blicity	possibility	simp’licity	ne’cessity
Stu’pidity	te’nacity	infor’mation	conver’sation
Appli’cation	obser’vation	plan’tation	po’litical
‘Cyclical	me’chanical	ter’rific	scientific
Catas’trophic	spe’cific	ener’getic	rea’listic
Refu’gee	trai’nee	lu’xurious	‘conscious
Sus’picious	ju’dicious	ca’reer	it’self
Gene’ration	va’cation	a’trocious	hu’mility
Civili’zation	con’fusion	fal’lacious	curi’osity
Obser’vation	‘nation	gram’matical	mo’rality
License	edu’cation	visi’bility	‘humanize
selection	ceremony	legibility	authorize

5. The following words have weak prefixes. Put sstress mark on the word and refer to the dictionary. (Page 222)

A ‘far	be’friend	be’little	be’come
A’cross	al’though	a’gree	a’round
A’gain	a’sleep	a’live	ar’rive
Re’sistant	a’head	ac’cording	in’debted
A’broad	a’fraid	be’cause	a’part