Stressed and Unstressed Syllables

Hear which syllable gets the most force, and use stress to say a word correctly.

In words with two or more syllables, one syllable is said with more force. That is the stressed, or accented, syllable. Say 'TA-ble': the first syllable is louder and longer. Say 'be-GIN': the second one is stronger. Dictionaries mark stress with a small mark next to the syllable. Getting stress right helps you recognize a word.

If you read 'animal' as 'an-i-MAL', it sounds strange; 'AN-i-mal' sounds right. Some words even change meaning when the stress moves. In 'We will re-CORD the song', record is an action. In 'She broke the REC-ord', it is a thing. Same letters, different stress, different meaning. Try stressing different syllables until the word sounds familiar.

• 1One syllable in a long word gets extra force: the stressed syllable.
• 2Try stressing different syllables until the word sounds right.
• 3Some words change meaning when the stress moves.