Stress & Intonation | Pronunciation And Orthography | English

English stress and intonation shape meaning and naturalness, so this guide focuses on key principles and patterns that learners can notice and practice.

Stress

Stress is the emphasis placed on a syllable within a word, and it affects pronunciation, meaning, and whether a word sounds English.

Word Stress

Word stress determines which syllable is pronounced more loudly, clearly, and with higher pitch, and changing stress can change meaning or make a word sound unnatural.

Nouns vs Verbs

Many two-syllable words change stress depending on whether they are a noun or a verb: nouns typically stress the first syllable, while verbs stress the second.

	Noun	Verb
	`^record`	re`^cord`
	`^permit`	per`^mit`
	`^import`	im`^port`

Which syllable is typically stressed in two-syllable noun vs. verb pairs?

Stress placement is random

Second syllable for nouns, first syllable for verbs

First syllable for nouns, second syllable for verbs

Both syllables are stressed equally

More Examples

Stress in Longer Words

In longer words, stress usually falls on a particular syllable depending on suffixes and word type, so learners should pay attention to common stress patterns.

Sentence Stress

Sentence stress highlights important words in a sentence, typically content words like nouns, main verbs, adjectives, and adverbs, while function words are usually unstressed.

Intonation

Intonation is the pattern of pitch changes in speech, and it signals attitudes, sentence types, and emphasis, helping listeners understand the speaker's meaning beyond the words.

Falling Intonation

Falling intonation usually signals completion, certainty, or a statement, and it commonly occurs in declarative sentences and commands.

Rising Intonation

Rising intonation often signals a question, uncertainty, or that more information is expected, and it appears in yes/no questions and sometimes in lists.

Intonation for Emphasis

Speakers can use intonation to highlight particular words or contrasts by changing pitch and stress, which guides listeners to the most important information.

Summary

Mastering word stress and sentence intonation helps learners sound more natural and makes their meaning clearer to listeners; practice by noticing patterns and imitating native speech.

Last updated: Fri Oct 24, 2025