Accent is one of the extremely important aspects if you want to learn to pronounce English correctly and well like a native speaker. Many Vietnamese people often forget to put the stress when pronouncing, or don't know where the stress is in the word but often transcribe it like Vietnamese. Please join EnglishTopVN in following the article Summary of "unbeatable" accent rules in English to firmly grasp the "standard no need to adjust" rules!
To be easily accessible how to accent, first we need to learn about two concepts: “rhythm" and "stress”.
A “syllable” is a unit of sound, which can be made up of a vowel sound or by the combination of a vowel sound with one or more consonants. But in any case, the prerequisite for forming a syllable is still having a vowel sound.
However, in some cases, if the vowel sound is a weak vowel /ə/, it can also be omitted. We will learn about these cases in a separate article.
For example:
ant – /ænt/: The word ‘ant’ – “ant” has only one syllable. This syllable is a combination of the vowel /æ/ and two consonants /n/ and /t/.
employee – /ˌem.plɔɪˈiː/: The word ‘employee’ – “employee” has 3 syllables. /em/, /plɔɪ/ and /iː/.
Note:
Syllable has a close relationship with English accent rules. Therefore, to be able to apply these rules accurately and effectively, first of all, we need to accurately determine the number of syllables and distinguish the syllables in a word.
In words with more than one syllable, “stress” is pronounced louder, clearer, higher or longer. The speaker/reader will put more force on this sound.
The word has no stress because it has only one syllable, so no matter how much force we use when pronouncing this syllable, there is no syllable left in the word to compare and accentuate it. .
Symbol English accent: Accent is represented by a super comma (‘). If the symbol (‘) precedes a syllable, the stress will fall on that syllable.
For example:
- How to stress words with 2 syllables
- 2 -syllable verbs ⟶ The stress usually falls on the 2nd syllable.
For example:
agreeˈɡriː/ - Agree
convince – /kˈvɪns/ - convince
decide – /dɪˈsaɪd/ - decision
invite – /ɪnˈvaɪt/ - invite
provide – /preˈvaɪd/ - provide
refuse – /rɪˈfjuːz/ - refuse
repeat – /rɪˈpiːt/ - repeat
Note: There are also some exceptions to the rule of stressing two-syllable verbs on the first syllable.
For example:
answer – /ˈænsər/ – answer
enter – /ˈentər/ – go into (somewhere)
follow – /ˈfɑːləʊ/ – follow (someone/…)
- Nouns with 2 syllables ⟶ The stress usually falls on the 1st syllable.
For example:
answer – /ˈænsər/ – answer/answer
mirror – /ˈmɪrər/ – mirror
ocean – /ˈəʊʃn/ – ocean
river – /ˈrɪvər/ – river
summer – /ˈsʌmər/ – it is
theater – /ˈθiːətər/ – cinema/theater
widow – /wɪdəʊ/ – widow
Note: There are also some exceptions where the rule of stress in two-syllable nouns is on the second syllable.
For example:
police – /paˈliːs/ - police
guitar – /ɡɪˈtɑːr/ - guitar
device – /dɪˈvaɪs/ - device
- Adjectives with 2 syllables ⟶ Accentoftenfalls on syllable number 1.
For example:
angry – /ˈæŋɡri/ – angry
heavy – /ˈhevi/ – heavy
lousy – /ˈlaʊzi/ – very bad
bossy – /ˈbɔːsi/ – overbearing
nervous – /ˈnɜːrvəs/ – worry
crooked – /ˈkrʊkɪd/ – crooked/crooked/dishonest
simple – /ˈsɪmpl/ – simple
Note: There are also some exceptions where the rule of stress in two-syllable adjectives is on the second syllable. For example:
mature – /mˈtʃʊr/ - mature
alone –ˈləʊn/ - alone
- Adjectives, nouns and verbs whose syllables contain one of the long vowel sounds (/ɑː/, /ɔː/, /ɜː/, /iː/ and /uː/) ⟶ Stress falls on that syllable ( usually the second syllable).
discard – /dɪˈskɑːrd/ – (v.) remove
decor – /deɪˈkɔːr/ – (n.) interior decoration style
deserve – /dɪˈzɜːrv/ – (v.) worthy
receive – /rɪˈsiːv/ – (v.) to receive
improve – /ɪmˈpruːv/ – (v.) improve
- Verb
For verbs with 3 or more syllables, the stress will fall on the first syllable if the third syllable contains a diphthong or ends with 2 or more consonants.
For example:
The stress falls on the second syllable if the third syllable has a short vowel.
For example:
- Noun
In a noun with 3 or more syllables, if the second syllable contains the weak vowel /ə/ or /ɪ/, the stress will fall on the first syllable.
For example:
If the noun has the first syllable containing the weak vowel /ə/ or /i/ or the second syllable of the word contains a long vowel/diphthong, the stress falls on the second syllable.
For example:
- Adjective
In adjectives with 3 or more syllables, if the first syllable contains the weak vowel /ə/ or /i/, the stress falls on the second syllable.
For example:
retarded – /rɪˈtɑːrdɪd/ – retarded (intellectual)
considerate – /kanˈsɪdərət/ – thoughtful/thoughtful of others
If the last syllable contains the weak vowel /ə/ or /i/ and the second syllable contains a long vowel or diphthong, the stress falls on the second syllable.
For example:
We can also guess the stress of a word when it contains a number of suffixes (elements at the end of a specific word. These suffixes will be divided into separate groups and each group will have an emphasis rule. private sound.
- Words containing one of the suffixes – ic, – ish, – ical, – sion, – tion, – ance, – ence, – idle, – ious, – ience, – eous, – ian, – ity, – logy, -graphy, -nomy.
⟶ The stress falls on the syllable that precedes the syllable(s) corresponding to that suffix or containing the pronunciation of that suffix.
For example:
Suffixes |
For example |
-ic |
historic/hɪˈstɔːr.ɪk/ |
-ish |
historic/hɪˈstɔːr.ɪk/ |
-ical |
historical/hɪˈstɒr.ɪ.kəl/ |
-sion |
vision/ˈvɪʒ.ən/ |
-tion |
tradition/trəˈdɪʃ.ən/ |
-ance |
appearance/əˈpɪr.əns/ |
-ence |
independence/ˌɪn.dɪˈpen.dəns/ |
-idle |
edible/ˈed.ə.bəl/ |
-ious |
envious/ˈen.vi.əs/ |
-ience |
convenience/kənˈviː.ni.əns/ |
-ous |
gorgeous/ˈɡɔːr.dʒəs/ |
-ian |
Italian/ɪˈtæl.jən/ |
-ity |
nationality/ˌnæʃˈnæl.ə.t̬i/ |
-logy |
psychology/saɪˈkɑː.lə.dʒi/ |
-graphy |
geography/dʒiˈɑː.ɡrə.fi/ |
-nomy |
astronomy/əˈstrɑː.nə.mi/ |
- Words containing one of the suffixes -ee, -eer, -ese, -ique, -esque
⟶ The stress falls on the syllable corresponding to that suffix.
For example:
Suffixes |
For example |
- of |
interviewee /ˌɪn.tə.vjuˈiː/ |
-eer |
pioneer /ˌpaɪ.ə.ˈnɪr/ |
-that |
Taiwanese /ˌtaɪ.wəˈniːz/ |
-ic |
technique /tekˈniːk/ |
-esque |
picturesque /ˌpɪktʃəˈresk/ |
- Words created by adding the suffixes -ment, -ship, -ness, -er/ or, -hood, -ing, -en, -ful, -able, -ous, -less, -ly, -ist, -ism into the root word.
⟶ The stress position remains the same as in the original word.
For example:
Suffixes |
For example |
-ment |
employ ⟶ employment |
-ship |
relation ⟶ relationship |
-ness |
empty ⟶ emptiness |
-is |
sing ⟶ singer |
-or |
distribute⟶ distributor |
-hood |
adult ⟶ adulthood |
-ing |
swim ⟶ swimming |
-in |
wide ⟶ widen |
-ful |
beauty ⟶ beautiful |
-able |
adore ⟶ adorable |
-ous |
fame ⟶ famous |
-less |
meaning ⟶ meaningless |
-ly |
violent ⟶ violently |
-is |
perfection ⟶ perfectionist |
-ism |
human ⟶ humanism |
When a word is prefixed to create a new word, the stress mark remains in the same position as in the original word.
Table of examples of some common prefixes:
(Actually, there are some other prefixes)
For example:
Suffixes |
For example |
dis- |
agree ⟶ disagree |
in- |
active ⟶ inactive |
and- |
employment ⟶ unemployment |
im- |
possible ⟶ impossible |
and- |
responsible ⟶ irresponsible |
mis- |
understand ⟶ misunderstand |
under- |
water ⟶ underwater |
over- |
come ⟶ overcome |
il- |
legal ⟶ illegal |
of- |
form ⟶ deform |
– There are words that are similar but have different meanings and pronunciations, especially different stresses, so the way to stress them is also different. These cases are often noun-verb pairs with 2 syllables. The verb will usually have the stress on syllable number 2, while, with the same word, the noun will have the stress on syllable number 1.
For example:
Verb meaning: “export” ⟶ Pronunciation: /ɪkˈspɔːt/
Noun meaning: “the act/the export” ⟶ Pronunciation: /ˈek.spɔːrt/
Verb meaning: “save information/data/achievements/…” ⟶ Pronunciation: /rɪˈkɔːd/
Noun meaning: “a record of information/data/achievements/…” ⟶ Pronunciation: /ˈrek.ɔːd/