Syllables and Word Stress – English Pronunciation Lesson

Syllables and Word Stress – English Pronunciation Lesson

In this lesson, you can learn about syllables and stress in English.
Do you know what stress means? It’s one of the most important pronunciation points in English.
When you speak English, do other people find it difficult to understand what you’re saying? If so, you might not be using stress correctly.
Pronouncing words with the correct stress can make a big difference to your English: your English will immediately sound clearer and more natural.

NOTE: there is an error at 1:41 – the stress marker in the IPA transcription of ‘banana’ should be on the 2nd syllable, rather than the 1st: /bə’nɑːnə/.

Continue working on your pronunciation, and get feedback from a certified English teacher. Try a lesson today: http://bit.ly/ooe-teachers.

 See the full version of this lesson on our website: https://www.oxfordonlineenglish.com/syllables-and-stress.

Contents:
1. How to Count Syllables 0:40
2. How to Pronounce Stress 2:43
3. Stress in Two-Syllable Words 5:16
4. Stress in Longer Words 7:33
5. Contrasts and Vowel Reductions 11:16

In this lesson you’ll learn:

– What syllables are, and how to count the syllables of a word
– Introduction to word stress
– How to pronounce word stress in English
– How to hear the word stress when listening in English
– Rules for finding the stress of a word in English

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50 Comments

  1. Syed Afnan on November 4, 2021 at 10:23 am

    suggestion come under 2 , 3,4 syllable



  2. Sarayu Chowdary on November 4, 2021 at 10:25 am

    That guy sounds like the assistant on my phn 😂😂



  3. hyeri혜리 on November 4, 2021 at 10:28 am

    Ahh now i know why in a phonetic transcription on dictionary have an apostrophe (‘), i always wondering that
    Thank you so much!



  4. Shaikh Englishnet on November 4, 2021 at 10:28 am

    I wish I Iearnt stressed words or syllable.



  5. het.v on November 4, 2021 at 10:29 am

    🇮🇳😃🇬🇧



  6. Tô Gia Bách on November 4, 2021 at 10:30 am

    They be like: describe things by using the harder things.



  7. Nadia Alomar on November 4, 2021 at 10:30 am

    Thank you it is very good



  8. chatterboxforyou on November 4, 2021 at 10:34 am

    This gave me STRESS.



  9. Kuya Princeton on November 4, 2021 at 10:37 am

    wota



  10. Ibra Cade on November 4, 2021 at 10:39 am

    👍 Nice 🔥



  11. Strong Independent Black Woman Who Need No Man on November 4, 2021 at 10:40 am

    I imagine that native english speakers DON’T KNOW THOSE RULERS, yet, they use them because they just….find it natural to use word stress without even realizing?



  12. Gédéon GABA on November 4, 2021 at 10:43 am

    the most important thing we need to speak correctly english is the notion about stress. Thank you for this lesson.



  13. variety fishings on November 4, 2021 at 10:45 am

    Awesome



  14. Shadi Sadeghi on November 4, 2021 at 10:47 am

    Thank you
    It was realy useful



  15. Aik Kajang on November 4, 2021 at 10:47 am

    Can a word have more than one stress eg. the word ‘pronunciation’ where nun & a are longer?



  16. Mshamoud Sseed on November 4, 2021 at 10:49 am

    Really it’s most important lesson and you explained well.
    Let we know the way we can devide the word into syllables.
    Thank you so much



  17. Simone Fu on November 4, 2021 at 10:50 am

    Hi. Thanks for your video. It’s very helpful. But I have a question, as the rules go, for the 2 syllable words, the nouns should be stressed in the first syllable, and the verbs should be the second. But why doesn’t the word “reSERve” (both noun and verb) follow the rule? 🤔🤔and both the verb and the noun are stressed in the second syllabl? (for there’s some exemptions for the general rule?)



  18. Tayyaba Sohail on November 4, 2021 at 10:51 am

    Is it an Apostrophe or stress mark??



  19. No B on November 4, 2021 at 10:52 am

    who else is here cuz their learning rap music



  20. humanity live long on November 4, 2021 at 10:54 am

    This is what i was looking for ages. Tnx a lot



  21. Arash Rahimi on November 4, 2021 at 10:55 am

    Can you explain why the stress is on "s" in the words like ‘expensive’, ‘explain’, ‘expose’, ‘expatriate’ and ‘exclude’? I mean, ‘ex’ is the first syllable in these words and it’s pronounced like "eks". How come the stress mark is on the last part of the first syllable (‘s’) treating ‘s’ as if it is a part of the second syllable? I’d be grateful if you answered. Thanks in advance.

    PS: if you didn’t get the question, I can explain more.



  22. Hifza Asif on November 4, 2021 at 10:56 am

    Thanks a lot sir .



  23. Joseph on November 4, 2021 at 10:57 am

    ♥️🤗



  24. Cecilia Arnoco on November 4, 2021 at 10:57 am

    THANK YOU SO MUCH ❤❤❤❤ THIS REALLY HELPED ME ALOT❤❤❤❤



  25. Hoàng Việt on November 4, 2021 at 10:58 am

    <3



  26. Jeyehm Mercado on November 4, 2021 at 10:58 am

    Category / Recommend



  27. Free Fire on November 4, 2021 at 11:01 am

    Awesome explanation



  28. Nithin Shaji on November 4, 2021 at 11:02 am

    What’s the stressed words in moderation and about anyone please reply



  29. Ashikur Rahman on November 4, 2021 at 11:03 am

    We want bangla subtitles,,all videos,please



  30. ANANTHA RAMULU on November 4, 2021 at 11:03 am

    I knew core thing of stressed and unstressed syllabus of the words but I get command after more practice.Thank you.



  31. Deniz Tunalı on November 4, 2021 at 11:04 am

    I don’t like stressed syllables.I think It’s very hard



  32. Ahmed Karim on November 4, 2021 at 11:07 am

    I got it thanks ☺️



  33. Midas Asmorodono Sosronegoro on November 4, 2021 at 11:07 am

    When I was young, why did my english teacher never teach me the most important part of english level like this? He left me confused. Sometimes I learn so much when native english speakers are talking with me, I pinpoint a lot the dos and the don’ts, and I’m like, wow, why their intonation in their pronunciation doesn’t sound monotone and flat like mine does? They seem to sing it, and I like it. And right now, I get your video. Thank’s, anyway. Never run out of ideas to help us improve our english skill ! Your video is so helpful to many million people who are not native, I’m one.



  34. Dileepa Warnakulasooriya on November 4, 2021 at 11:09 am

    Clear and great explanation.



  35. Sultana Tania on November 4, 2021 at 11:09 am

    This was very informative lession.I learn this topic very clearly.Thanks for such a helpful vedio.



  36. warad saeed on November 4, 2021 at 11:10 am

    What is the stresses syllable of terrified ?



  37. Sumarna 186 on November 4, 2021 at 11:10 am

    In indonesian it is only given for students majoring language at university



  38. Pacharapat Khluenkaew on November 4, 2021 at 11:11 am

    very helpful for me cuz I’m having a test tomorrow



  39. Deen Squad on November 4, 2021 at 11:12 am

    Informative



  40. Dibas's World 2 on November 4, 2021 at 11:13 am

    This helped me a lot



  41. Mohammed Ghanem on November 4, 2021 at 11:13 am

    Flower and thought
    How many syllables?



  42. Mrinal Das on November 4, 2021 at 11:14 am

    Nervous which part is primary syllable ?



  43. Basic Editor on November 4, 2021 at 11:16 am

    Thanks a lot team, because of you I learned it and now going to write sonnet



  44. said_187x Nvf on November 4, 2021 at 11:16 am

    Hi everybody I’m looking for someone to practice my English with him if anybody interested this is my Instagram said_rdy



  45. ak stud10s on November 4, 2021 at 11:17 am

    Hello malayali



  46. Reham Sherif on November 4, 2021 at 11:17 am

    I really hope you guys answer my question , Does the rule of making a longer word of a shorter root words have anything to do with the rule of stress in prefixes and suffixes ?!! And please if there is such a video you made about this topic write down the link in your replay ! Thanks in advance ♥️



  47. KhaiTri LacHong on November 4, 2021 at 11:18 am

    Great tips. Glad that i ran into this clip. Thanks for sharing.



  48. samuelbcn on November 4, 2021 at 11:19 am

    A video on pronunciation under a UK flag and then mixing British and American accents but without mentioning the difference seems unnecessarily confusing to me.



  49. English with ease on November 4, 2021 at 11:20 am

    Wow you explained this beautifully and easily.



  50. Hammad Mustafa on November 4, 2021 at 11:21 am

    5:30