Syllable stress in English: the rules that find the stressed syllable, with 40 examples

What syllable stress is and why it matters

A syllable is one beat of a word. Water has two syllables (wa-ter). Banana has three (ba-na-na).

In English, one syllable in each word is the strongest. We call this primary stress. The stressed syllable is:

• louder than the others
• longer in time
• higher in pitch
• spoken with a clear vowel

The other syllables are weaker, and their vowels often become a short, neutral sound called the schwa, like the a in banana (ba-NA-na). You can hear it in nearly every English sentence.

In writing, we mark stress with capital letters in this guide: ba-NA-na, PHO-to-graph. In dictionaries, a small mark (ˈ) comes before the stressed syllable.

Why does this matter? Because listeners recognise English words by their stress pattern first and by their individual sounds second. Say ba-na-NA with perfect consonants and many people still will not understand you. Say ba-NA-na with a slightly wrong vowel, and they will.

The page on word stress gives a longer practice plan. This guide focuses on how to find the stressed syllable.

Rule 1: two-syllable words

Two-syllable words are the easiest place to start, because they follow a clear pattern.

The noun and verb pairs are worth learning as a group:

• The REC-ord is on the table. / Please re-CORD the meeting.
• I bought a PRE-sent. / They will pre-SENT the results.
• There was an IN-crease in sales. / Prices in-CREASE every year.
• A new PRO-ject / to pro-JECT a number

There are exceptions. Some two-syllable nouns have second-syllable stress (ho-TEL, ma-CHINE, ad-VICE), and some verbs have first-syllable stress (VIS-it, EN-ter, LIS-ten). Learn those as you meet them.

Use this rule as your default guess: nouns and adjectives first, verbs second.

Rule 2: word endings tell you where the stress is

In longer words, the ending is often the best clue.

Stress the syllable before the ending

These endings pull stress to the syllable just before them: -tion, -sion, -ic, -ical, -ity, -ian, -ious.

• in-for-MA-tion, ed-u-CA-tion, de-CI-sion
• e-LEC-tric, his-TOR-ic, eco-NOM-ic
• pos-si-BIL-i-ty, a-BIL-i-ty
• mu-SI-cian, po-li-TI-cian

Stress the ending itself

These endings are stressed: -ee, -eer, -ese, -ique, -ette.

• em-ploy-EE, en-gi-NEER, Chi-NESE, u-NIQUE

Stress three syllables from the end

Words ending in -ate, -ize, -ify and -cy often have stress on the third syllable from the end.

• ED-u-cate, CEL-e-brate, com-MU-ni-cate
• OR-gan-ize, CLAR-i-fy, de-MOC-ra-cy

No rule is perfect, but these patterns cover a large share of everyday words, and they give you a strong first guess.

Rule 3: compound words and phrases

A compound noun is two words that act as one thing. In most compound nouns, the first part gets the main stress.

• BLACK-board (a board for writing) vs black BOARD (a board that is black)
• GREEN-house vs green HOUSE
• AIR-port, TOOTH-paste, BED-room, SUM-mer holiday

The meaning changes with the stress. A HOT-dog is food. A hot DOG is a dog that is too warm.

For compound verbs and adjectives, the second part is usually stressed.

• over-LOOK, under-STAND, well-KNOWN, old-FASH-ioned

For phrasal verbs, stress the particle in a verb + adverb: give UP, turn ON, look OUT. If a phrase works like a noun, stress shifts to the first word: a TAKE-away, a BREAK-down.

How to find stress in a dictionary

Do not guess if you can look it up. A learner's dictionary shows the stress right next to the word.

1. Find the pronunciation line. It sits after the headword, between slashes.
2. Look for the mark ˈ. It appears before the stressed syllable. A lower mark (ˌ) shows secondary stress.
3. Listen to the audio. Most online dictionaries have American and British recordings. Play them twice.
4. Repeat out loud, slowly. Tap on the stressed syllable with your finger or pen.

For example, a dictionary entry for photographer would show stress on the second syllable: pho-TOG-ra-pher. The word photograph is stressed on the first: PHO-to-graph. Photography is stressed on the second again: pho-TOG-ra-phy. One word family, three patterns. This is why a rule is a guess and a dictionary is a fact.

Cambridge Dictionary and the Oxford Learner's Dictionary both include audio for each word, so you can check yourself.

Stress changes the vowels

In English, stress does not only change loudness. It changes the vowel.

This is why English sounds fast and uneven compared with some other languages. The weak syllables are short and quiet on purpose. If you give every syllable the same weight, you sound slow and your listener has to work harder.

A good exercise is to say a word with only the stressed syllable clear and the others as short, soft sounds: ba-NA-na → buh-NAH-nuh. The schwa sound page explains this sound and gives you practice words.

Common stress mistakes and how to fix them

Three mistakes appear again and again in learners' speech.

1. Stressing every syllable the same. Many languages give each syllable about equal weight. In English this makes speech sound slow and unclear. Fix: make the stressed syllable clearly longer, and make the others short and quiet.

2. Moving stress to match the spelling. Comfortable is not com-fort-A-ble, and vegetable is not veg-e-TA-ble. Listen to the word before you decide, because English spelling does not show stress.

3. Using the noun stress for a verb. Say I need to re-CORD this, not I need to REC-ord this. The same applies to pre-SENT, in-CREASE, ob-JECT and per-MIT.

A good habit is to learn stress together with every new word, in the same way you learn its meaning. When you write a new word in your notebook, mark the stress with a capital letter: com-MU-ni-cate. Then say the word aloud before you move on. Stress is a part of the word, not an extra.

Practice: 20 words to say aloud

Mark the stress before you check the key.

1. teacher 2. machine 3. photograph 4. photographer 5. education
2. important 7. comfortable 8. vegetable 9. interesting 10. engineer
3. decision 12. economic 13. economy 14. ability 15. communicate
4. hotel 17. police 18. increase (noun) 19. increase (verb) 20. computer

Key: TEA-cher, ma-CHINE, PHO-to-graph, pho-TOG-ra-pher, ed-u-CA-tion, im-POR-tant, COM-fort-a-ble (or COM-fta-ble), VEG-ta-ble, IN-ter-est-ing, en-gi-NEER, de-CI-sion, ec-o-NOM-ic, e-CON-o-my, a-BIL-i-ty, com-MU-ni-cate, ho-TEL, po-LICE, IN-crease, in-CREASE, com-PU-ter.

Say each word three times. Record yourself on your phone if you can, and compare with a dictionary recording. If the listener cannot find the stressed syllable, the stress is not strong enough yet. Make it longer, not only louder.