Stress in English: features, rules and recommendations

Emphasis is an emphasis on one of the syllables in a word. It can also fall on a whole word, phrase, word in the sentence to reinforce the semantic load.

Accents. What for?

In each language, there are different rules for stating stresses. English is not an exception. And each language is different from the other in the rules for stating the accents. For example, in French stress always falls on the last syllable, and, for example, in Latin it is put on the second or third from the end. In Polish, it falls on the penultimate syllable. This is called fixed stress. But it is important to know that there are also non-fixed accents in words. A vivid example of this is our native Russian language, which has a number of special features of styling. Therefore, it is very difficult for foreigners to study. After all, our native language is complex in its grammar statement of stresses.

Let's return to accentology in Russian. Accents can fall absolutely on any syllable in the word. A special rule for stating the accents in words in Russian does not exist, as, for example, in Latin. But there are some points that you can rely on when studying. The stress in Russian can distinguish one word from another, it can be the same in single-root words, but at the same time it can differ. Russian is so complex that even native speakers are not always aware of how to pronounce a particular word correctly.

But the question arises: "Why do you need this stress?" Everything is extremely simple! After all, it allows a person to understand and distinguish words in a violent stream of speech.

Stress in English

As for the stress in the words of the English language, here, too, there are a number of rules and features. For a competent statement of stresses in the English language, one must clearly understand the system of splitting words into syllables. It is important to note that in this respect, English is very similar to the Russian language, because they both have a free stress. This can make it difficult for a foreigner.

To make it easier for you to learn English, a person should know clearly:

• Stress;
• Type of syllable (closed or open).

Like in Russian, English words have open and closed syllables, and defining them is an easy task. After all, open syllables end with a vowel sound, and closed ones with a consonant.

In general, there are two most important rules:

1. One word can only contain one major stress! Of course, you can find more than one accent in the English word. But it will always contain the main stress and only then secondary, which are weaker than the first and occur in very long words.
2. The stress in English, like in any other, falls on a vowel or a vowel! Of course, there are exceptions to the rules, but their number is very small.

It is important to note that in English some elements of a vocabulary can be hit more often or less often. For example, such a part of the word as a prefix in the noun is under stress much more often than the prefix in the verb. There are also suffixes, which, as a rule, are percussion. We offer their list:

• -ate;
• -ete;
• -ite;
• -ute.

The rules of stress in English

Learning the grammar, it should be remembered that this section is important in colloquial speech and less significant when working with texts. There are a number of rules for stating the stresses in English. By sticking to them, you can correctly put emphasis on words. This is incredibly important when mastering a foreign language. So, the rules are:

1. On the letter, the stress is placed on the third from the end of the syllable. Here is an example of a word: abIlity, university, socIology, and so on.
2. In words of French origin, the stress will remain unchanged. For example, the words: hotEl, guitAr. These words retain their French accent.
3. The accent can be placed after the prefixes. For example, a-lone, be-fore, o-mit, under-stand.

It is important to note that some suffixes may have some influence on the setting of stresses. For example, -ry has the property of pushing the stress on the fourth syllable from the end of the word. Vivid examples are the words: ORdinary voCAbulary.

Or the suffix -ic usually contains an accent. For example, draMAtic symBOlic.

Accents in derivative words

In derived words, stress can remain the same as in the original word, but at the same time it can change. For example, if a noun is created from a verb or vice versa, the stress often remains unchanged. For example, the noun "deNIal", having transformed into the verb "deNY", retains its initial stress. But in derivative words, it is still possible that the stress shifts. For example, the noun "OBject", transformed into the verb "obJEct", shifts the stress on the second syllable from the end of the word.

Focus on the first, second syllables

In English, stress falls on the first syllable in the following cases:

• Almost all nouns and adjectives that have two syllables get an emphasis on the first.
• The emphasis on the second syllable is almost all the verbs, which include in the total amount all the same two.

Verbal stress

The verbal accent in English is the emphasis on the syllable in the vocabulary. Long units can contain two stresses: the main and secondary (it is often called an incidental one).

When learning new words, it is important to remember the main accent. And you need to realize that even in single-root words stresses can change. From how you learn this topic, depends on the perception of your speech by other people, because accentology helps to separate a set of letters into understandable word combinations.

About phrasal stress

Phrase accent in English is the pronunciation of individual words more emotionally than others, which are called unstressed.

As a rule, in English, shock words are:

• Nouns;
• Verbs (semantic);
• Adjectives;
• Demonstrative pronouns;
• Interrogative pronouns;
• Adverbs;
• Numerals.

Usually unstressed are: personal pronouns, articles, unions, auxiliary verbs, prepositions.

We can say that the phrase accent is in the same functions as the verbal one. It is divided into two types: centralized and decentralized.

A centralized view is a word or a lot of words in which the speaker focuses. With a decentralized type, the speaker focuses on the whole sentence. This separates not the specific word, but the entire phrase.

The degree of phrase accent in words

In English, it is customary to distinguish three degrees of phrasal stress, which include the following:

• The main thing. Gets the greatest accent.
• Secondary. Gets less stress.
• Weak. Gets even less strong emphasis.

As a rule, the more important a word is, the stronger the speaker should distinguish it during oral speech.

On the logical stress

But it is important to note that, if necessary, the speaker, of course, has the right to give accent to any word, even if it is included in the list of unaccented.

First, it must be said that intonation plays a huge role in English speech. The function of intonation is the transmission of a hue of the said speaking phrase. This is the main difference between Russian and English. After all, Russian intonation is perceived as boring and flat. And English contains the pace of speech, logical pauses and, of course, the tone.

As already mentioned, the logical stress in the English language is intentionally selected words for emotional coloring. In speech there is an increase and a lowering of intonation. It is important to note that there are also mixed for making spoken speech of special brightness and saturation.