English grammar › C1
Word stress
Level C1 · PHOtograph · phoTOgrapher
Why does word stress matter?
Every English word with two or more syllables has one strong syllable. Wrong stress can make a word hard to understand, even if the sounds are right.
Why it matters
- Listeners recognise words by their stress pattern.
- Stress often moves when the word family changes.
Examples
- **PHO**to · pho**TO**grapher · photo**GRA**phic — the stress moves
- **RE**cord (noun) · re**CORD** (verb) — stress changes the word type
Remember: Learn a new long word with its stress mark, like a dictionary shows it.
The rule
Every long English word has one strong syllable. Moving the stress can change the word.
The sounds
- photograph — PHO-to-graph: stress on the first syllable.: photographer, photographic
- hotel — ho-TEL: some words stress the second syllable.: begin, about
- comfortable — COMF-ta-ble: some syllables almost disappear.: vegetable, interesting
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