Understanding Word Stress and Syllables

What is the definition of word stress?

• The process of making all syllables in a word equally strong

• The emphasis placed on one part of a word, making it more prominent

• The act of pronouncing vowels longer in a word

• The way consonants are stressed more than vowels

What is a syllable?

• A unit of sound containing only consonant sounds

• A small unit containing only one vowel sound and one or more consonant sounds

• A stressed part of a word

• A silent letter in a word

What is the stress mark (‘) used for?

• To indicate a silent syllable

• To show the primary stress in a word

• To separate consonant and vowel sounds

• To show the number of syllables in a word

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of stressed syllables?

• Loudness

• Length

• Pronunciation speed

• Pitch

Which factor has the strongest effect on word stress?

• Loudness

• Length

• Pitch

• Quality

In English, stressed syllables tend to be ________.

• Shorter and softer

• Louder, longer, and higher in pitch

• Spoken faster

• Always placed at the beginning of a word

Which of the following words is stressed on the first syllable?

• proGRESS

• PROgress

• beGIN

• reCORD (verb)

Which of the following words follows the stress rule for nouns ending in -y?

• DIPlomat

• diPLOmacy

• DIPloMAtic

• DIPloMATic

In the word ‘absolutely’ (/ˌæb.səˈluːt.li/), which syllable has the primary stress?

• First syllable (ˈæb)

• Second syllable (sə)

• Third syllable (ˈluːt)

• Fourth syllable (li)

Which of these words contains secondary stress?

• Absolutely /ˌæb.səˈluːt.li/

• Banana /bəˈnæn.ə/

• Camera /ˈkæm.rə/

• Father /ˈfɑː.ðər/