2. Stress is the extra muscular activity or
force that is exerted on either the
syllable of a word or the entire word. It
is not every word of a sentence that is
stressed in the English language. Those
words or syllables of a word that are
stressed are usually more prominent
than others. Generally, nouns, verbs,
adjectives, adverbs, and relative
pronouns are stressed in a sentence.
Personal pronouns conjunctions,
prepositions, and articles on the other
hand are not stressed.

3. It should be noted that, when we stress the
syllable of a word, or the entire word we
perceived that the syllable or the word is
louder and longer compared to the
unstressed word or syllable around it. There
are three different types of stress in English
which can be assigned to either disyllabic or
multisyllabic words.
1. PRIMARY OR NUCLEAR STRESS.
This is marked by a high upright line placed
on the syllable that is considered louder and
longer than the others.

4. 2. SECONDARY STRESS.
This is marked by a low upright line
on the next syllable that we consider
equally loud and long but not as loud
and long as the one that attracts the
primary stress.
3. TERTIARY STRESS.
This is assigned to less prominent
syllables or words.

5. EXAMPLE.
,eco’nomic
,responsi’bility
In the two words above, the secondary
stress comes in the first syllable, while the
primary or main stress for economic comes
in the third syllable from the left. That of
responsibility comes in the third syllable
from the right. We indicate the syllable that
is stressed in a word by either using a high
upright line, an asterisk or writing the
syllable in capital letters as indicated in the
examples above. E.g. ‘master (n), *master
MAS-ter.

7. We have different methods of stress
assignment on disyllabic and multisyllabic
words. Generally, disyllabic nouns are
stressed on the first syllable while disyllabic
verbs are stressed on the last syllable.
e.g.
Disyllable nouns Disyllable verbs
‘master at’tend
‘teacher be’lieve
‘preacher re’tire
‘creator re’turn
‘painter a’buse
‘prayer be‘have

8. ‘mistake al’low
‘baby en’sure
‘writer at’tain
‘angel de’ceive.
In public examinations such as SSCE and
NECO, the candidate is given four words
three of which have the same stress pattern
while the last one is stressed differently. The
candidate is expected to choose the option
that has the word that has a different stress
pattern. E.g.
A. mistake
B. attend
C. forgive
D. invite.

9. In the example above, options B, C and
D have the same stress pattern while
option A is stressed differently. option
A is, therefore, the correct answer.
Note that disyllabic adjectives and
adverbs may be stressed either at the
first or last syllable. A good rule of
thumb therefore is that when we
pronounce a word the syllable on which
our pitch is the highest and longest
bears the stress.

10. The following are some disyllabic words and
their stress patterns.
Word Correct stress
advocate ADvocate
bargain BARgain
canoe caNOE
challenge CHALlenge
colleague COLleague
despite desPITE
elite eLITE
success sucCESS
genuine GENuine
interpret inTERpret

11. opponent opPOnent
impartial imPARtial
interesting INteresting
important imPORtant
tribalism TRIbalism
document DOCument
criticism CRITicism
complement COMplement
circumstance CIRcumstance
success sucCESS

12. Stress patterns of multisyllabic words.
Multisyllabic words may be stressed on any
syllable. In public examinations, the candidate
is given a word and different options A to D.
The syllable that is stressed is capitalised. We
are expected to choose the option that has
the appropriate stress. E.g.
1. autocratic
A. AU-to-cra-tic
B. au-TO-cra-tic
C. au-to-CRA-tic
D. au-to-cra-TIC

13. In the example above, the correct
answer is C because it is the second
syllable from the end that is stressed.
The following are rules governing the
stress patterns of multisyllabic words.

14. Simple ruleS for
aSSigning StreSS to
polySyllabic wordS

15. We shall consider some simple rules for
stress placement based on word endings
(suffixes).
‘ate’ stress the first syllable if the word
has three or more syllables.
Example:
CALculate CAStigate ALtenate
DEMonstrate MAgistrate PROmulgate
FORtunate MOtivate CONfiscate
PENetrate OPerate
CONtemplate

16. ‘-ic’ stress the second syllable from the end if a
word has three or four syllables.
Example:
idioMATic ecoNOmic optiMIStic
draMAtic inorGAnic humanIStic
emPHAtic hisTORic phoNETics
‘-cal’ stress the third syllable from the end if
the word has four or five syllables.
Example:
demoCRAtical geoMETrical reCIProcal
ecoNOMical hisTORical meTHODical
photoGRAPHical poLITical ilLOgical

17. ‘-ure’ stress the second syllable from the end
if the word has three or four syllables.
Example:
adMIXture conJECture
adVENture deBENture
‘-ion’ stress the second syllable from the end if
the word has four or five syllables.
Example:
satisFACtion exeCUtion elimiNAtion

18. ‘-ation’ stress the second syllable from
the end.
Example:
adminisTRAtion privatiZAtion
confedeRAtion consideRAtion
co-opeRAtion organiZAtion
‘-ism’ Stress the first syllable (initial stress)
PATrotism NAtionalism RAtionism
ORganism MECHanism COMmunism

19. ‘-able’ stress the first syllable from the
beginning if the word has four or five
syllables.
Example:
COMfortable EXEcutable FAvourable
HOnourable REAsonable CREditable

20. EMPHATIC STRESS.
Emphatic or shifting stress is used by
the speaker to show the importance or
significance of a unit of information in
an utterance. Emphasis is focused on the
most important element the speaker
wishes to draw attention to and it is
achieved through the degree of intensity
(pitch change) given to the particular
word.

21. In public examinations, we are given four
options lettered A to D. The word that bears
the emphatic stress is capitalised. The
candidate is expected to choose the option
that contrasts the word that is capitalised in
the sentence.
e.g.
1. The teacher SOLD a book to him?
A. Did the teacher sell a book to him?
B. Did the teacher borrow a book from him?
C. Did the teacher buy a book from him?
D. Did the teacher loan a book to him?
The correct answer is ‘C’ because ‘buy’ is
the only word that contrast ‘sold’.