Two Syllable Words | Structure

- Listen to the conversation:

2.14 “This picture is perfect!”

“I a gree, itʼs sublime!”

✦ All English words of 2 syllables or more contain one main stress.

✦ The main stress may appear on the first syllable ( X . ) or the second syllable
( . X ).
✦ In IPA, stress is marked with the symbol / ˈ / before the stressed syllable.
EXAMPLES: purˈsuit, ˈpurchase, comˈplete, ˈcommon.

DRILL

X. .X
2.15

ˈanthem aˈmaze
ˈbeggar beˈlieve
ˈcastle coˈrrupt
ˈforest forˈgive
ˈEngland emˈploy
ˈnoble poˈlite
ˈquestion subˈmit

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EXERCISE

- Listen and place the words in the box below into the correct columns according to
their stress patterns:

2.16 angle alive appeal beside awful bishop balloon carpet

father commit foolish decide delete erase forbid pardon
involve English candle machine persuade lettuce release
orphan revise survive sofa turtle
(X .) 1st Syllable Stress (. X) 2nd Syllable Stress

angle alive

EXERCISE
- Circle the word that contains a different stress pattern in each line:

1. palate passion parade pasta

2. conquer corrupt confess convince
3. able anchor amaze anxious
4. canal candle canon candy
5. master mansion machine marriage
6. police poker pocket ponder

- Check your answers in the answer key.

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Verb/Noun Stress Shift | Postscript

- Listen to the following dialogue, paying attention to the word ‘refund’:

4.20 “I’d like a refund for these trousers - they don’t fit.”
“I’m afraid we don’t refund items over 28 days old sir.”

- How does the stress change in ‘refund’?

✦ Some words are stressed differently depending on their form.

✦ As nouns, these words will use first syllable stress.

✦ As verbs, they will use second syllable stress.

DRILL / EXERCISE
i) Repeat the words in the box, firstly as nouns then as verbs:

4.21 conduct import export incense permit research progress

object decrease contrast refund contract record present

ii) Use one word from the box for each pair of sentences below, marking the
stress with < ˈ >:

a) Is there any known ______________ on the frequency of the schwa?

b) I have to ______________ Amazonian birds for my new book.
a) The people of West Sussex ______________ to the new power station.
b) The ______________ of this exercise is to understand verb/noun pairs.
a) Portugal will need to beat Poland to ______________ in the competition.
b) ______________ has been slow due to the terrible weather.
a) “Excuse me sir, may I see your resident’s ______________?”
b) We can’t ______________ you to bring this across the border.
a) Recent years have seen a large ______________ in crime.
b) If we ______________ expenditure, I think profits will go up.
a) I don’t want any more nonsense, just ______________ me with the facts.
b) Happy birthday Jane! Here’s your ______________.

4.22 - Listen and check your answers then practise the sentences.

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3 Syllable Words | Structure

- Listen to the words below. Where is the main stress in each?

3.14 manager banana entertain

- 3 syllable words can have the main stress on the 1st, 2nd or 3rd syllables.
- If the main stress is on the 3rd syllable, there will also be secondary stress on
the 1st syllable.
- Secondary stress is marked / ˌ /. EXAMPLE: /ˌenterˈtain/

DRILL
- Repeat the rhythms and words in the chart below:

3.15 Rhythm Examples

1 X . . | X .. | X .. | X .. brilliant, qualify, negative, wonderful, character

2 . X . | . X . | . X . | .X . together, beginning, completion, collision, emotion

3 x.X|x.X|x.X|x.X understand, disbelief, referee, magazine

EXERCISE

3.16 - Listen & circle the word in each line that contains a different stress pattern.

1. ignorant motivate nobody politely animal

2. inviting prevention relative eraser persuasion
3. passionate magazine Cantonese auctioneer afternoon
4. reflection impressive malicious interested invested
5. Africa Portugal Italy Jamaica Paraguay
6. professor lecturer musician translator consultant

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EXERCISE
- Either by using a dictionary or the recording, place the words in the box into the
correct column below:
politics kangaroo supporter afternoon happily Portuguese
believer satisfied Japanese courageous underneath clarify
credible prevention quality seventeen tomorrow cigarette
octopus energy annoying picturesque amusement funeral
adventure serviette recommend reaction ignorant wonderful
abolish refugee volunteer syllable consider
(X . .) (. X .) (x . X)
1st Syllable Stress 2nd Syllable Stress 3rd Syllable Stress

politics su pporter kanga roo

3.17 - Practise the words using the recording.

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Silent Syllables | Postscript
- Complete the crossword using the clues below.

m i s e r a b l e
1. 1.

2.

3. 3.

4. 5. 4. 6.

5. 7.

6.

7.

8.

9.

ACROSS DOWN
1. Very unhappy. 1. A painkiller commonly used for headache.
2. An unspecified number, more than two. 2. Not together.
3. Drama set to music on stage. 3. A place that serves food.
4. Force devoted to crime prevention. 4. A formal meeting on a large scale.
5. Book that lists words and their meanings. 5. Natural substance.
6. A place used for scientific experimentation. 6. Not boring.
7. Everything that has happened in the past. 7. Those who are related by blood or marriage.
8. A sweet food made from cacao.
9. The most normal or middle value.

3.24 - Check your answers using the recording.

- What is special about the grey squares?
- Practise saying the words with the recording.

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Silent Letters | Spelling & Sound

- Write the word for each picture in the gaps below them - each word contains a
silent consonant:
4.10

________________ ________________ ________________ ________________

✦ Written English contains consonant spellings that are never pronounced.

✦ Consonants < b, h, k, l, n, p, s, t & w > can be silent in speech.

DRILL

Silent
Examples
Letter
4.11
b debt, doubt, subtle, lamb, climb, numb, plumber, comb, thumb

h honour, heir, hour, exhibit, exhaust, Thames

k knee, know, knot, knife, knight

l walk, talk, although, calf, half, chalk, yolk, calm, palm, salmon

n column, autumn, condemn, damn, hymn

p psychology, pneumonia, cupboard, receipt, pseudo, Psalm

s island, aisle, debris

t often, fasten, soften, listen, gourmet, mortgage, ballet

w whole, who, sword, write, wrist, answer

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EXERCISE
- Using the clues at the bottom of the page, fill in the crossword below. The grey
letter in the middle contains a silent letter in each case.
1.
w
2.
b
3.
d
4.
h
5.
g
6.
t
7.
k
8.
l
9.
w
10.
g
11.
w
12.
t
CLUES
1. The response to a question.
2. An inability to speak.
3. A woman’s accessory, worn on the shoulder and where
day-to-day things are kept.
4. The form of a dead person in an apparition.
5. Adjective. Originating from a different country or place.
6. The act of hearing something intently.
7. Verb. To use wool to create a garment using needles.
8. The yellow part of an egg.
9. Incorrect, the opposite of right.
10. An object or behaviour indicating information.
11. The first light before sunrise in the morning.
12. The worker who delivers mail.

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Compounds | Structure

- Listen to the following words, where is the main stress?

6.7 catfish deadline figurehead homesick lawsuit waterfall

✦ A compound is formed of two words.

✦ Compounds can be written as one word, two words separated by a hyphen, or
two separate words.
✦ Most compounds place stress only on the first word.

DRILL
6.8 airport background bedtime breakfast bulldog cobweb
cupboard deadline doorway eyelash farmhouse fingernail
gateway goldfish grandmother grapefruit hairdresser
headphones hangover honeymoon windowsill left over
motorbike popcorn seashore shellfish sometimes stepmother

EXERCISE
- In the conversation below, underline the compound nouns:

6.9 A Hello granddad!

B Oh hello darling, how nice to receive a telephone call from you!
A How are you and grandma?
B Oh we’re very well.
We’re just sitting here reading the newspapers.
A Is there anything interesting?
B No, not really. What’s your news?
Are you still with your boyfriend, Greg?
A Actually, that’s why I called.
Yesterday Greg proposed!
I’m wearing an engagement ring right now!
B Well, congratulations darling.
I always thought I could hear wedding bells with you two!

- Check your answers and practise saying the conversation.

- Which compounds are written as two separate words?

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ry
.AU
Y
\,
f

(
{\
EXERCISE
- Name the household objects in the pictures. They are all compounds:

fl
)l-
{a

\\--
ro
(-\
,K

f.
-t
l
"s-

,.1
,.S
)
s

(_
lrod
'?+/
\A.-
\./
{'
5
cJ
.e\ ,

s
\

\
BBSBo[[

-G:
\\
..-*--.<
-i

l^--
\_v"

_U
-)*

.-j,

frr
\

)
-c)

t.

u.
L_
rI
e<
-t
l
r'lJh
C-*--\.

tU-rP
5**

-Y
1-:i
c
?

6.10 - Listen to check your answers.

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Name Compounds | Structure

- Listen to the following place names. Which one uses a different stress pattern?

7.13 Cambridge Road Regent’s Park Oxford Street Church Way

7.14 ✦ Names of people and places carry double stress ( x X )

EXAMPLES: John Smith, Church Road, Blue Peter, Count Dracula
✦ The only exception to this rule are names with ‘Street’, which always take first
element stress. ( X . )
EXAMPLES: Church Street, Wall Street, Beale Street, High Street.

EXERCISE

- Say the following names of places in London:

- Which names use first element stress?
7.15 Oxford Circus Notting Hill
Goodge Street Hyde Park
Hampstead Heath Abbey Road
London Bridge Bond Street
Cannon Street Kensington Gardens
Covent Garden Liverpool Street

EXERCISE
- Listen to 2 people introduce themselves with their names and addresses,
write the information below:

7.16 1. NAME ____________ ____________ ADDRESS ____________ ____________

2. NAME ____________ ____________ ADDRESS ____________ ____________

- Say your name and address, paying attention to the stress in the compounds.

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Material & Ingredient Compounds | Structure

- Listen to the dialogue and find 2 compounds:

7.17 A What’s your favourite dessert?

B Well I love pear tart, but probably my favourite is carrot cake.

- Are the compounds single or double stressed?

7.18 ✦ When a material or ingredient is the first word of a compound, it normally

produces double stress (x X) as follows:

1st Word 2nd Word

cheese sandwich
tuna quiche
lettuce salad

wooden floor
metal lock
leather shoes

✦ 3 exceptions to this rule are when the second word is ‘cake’, ‘juice’ or ‘drink’,
these produce first element stress (X .).

1st Word Second Word

orange juice
carrot cake
banana drink

EXERCISE
- In each line of compounds, circle the odd one out:

7.19 1. apple juice apple cake apple tart Apple Street

2. John Edwards tin can ham sandwich potato cake
3. chocolate cake mango juice woollen jumper chocolate drink
4. train ticket lamp shade glass cabinet dining table
5. suede shoes leather trousers dinner jacket cotton shirt
6. fruit juice banana smoothie filter coffee coffee cake

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Stress Shift | Structure

- Listen to the word ‘underneath’ said alone, then in a sentence:

8.13 “Underneath”
“It’s underneath the bookshelf.”

- What do you notice about the stress in ‘underneath’ in each sentence?

✦ Some constructions in spoken English are said with different stress patterns
depending on the words surrounding them.
✦ This is known as stress shift, and commonly occurs in the following:

ABBREVIATIONS
8.14
✦ Stress normally occurs on the first and last letter of an abbreviation.
★ When followed by another word, the stress shifts from the last letter of the
abbreviation to the first:

Examples ˌBBˈC - ˌBBC ˈOne ˌUˈK - ˌUK ˈCitizen

PHRASAL VERBS
✦ Main stress normally occurs on the particle.
✦ When a content word is before or after the particle, stress shifts:

Examples ˌgo ˈup - ˌgo up the ˈstairs ˌwrite ˈdown - ˌwrite the ˈpoem down

-TEEN NUMBERS
✦ Main stress normally occurs on the suffix -teen.
✦ Stress shifts to the beginning when followed by a content word:

Examples thirˈteen - ˌthirteen specˈtators ˌnineˈteen - ˌnineteen ˈpounds

3 SYLLABLE WORDS
✦ If the main stress normally falls on the final syllable of a 3 syllable word, it will
shift to the first syllable when followed by a content word:

Examples ˌafterˈnoon - ˌafternoon ˈtea ˌJapaˈnese - ˌJapanese ˈsailor

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DRILL

- Repeat the -teen numbers then say them with the object on the recording.

8.15 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

EXERCISE
i) Match the organisations in column A with the abbreviations in B.
ii) Say the abbreviations with final-letter stress.
iii) Add a suitable noun from column C and move the stress to the noun:

EXAMPLE ʻNational Health Serviceʼ | ˌNHˈS | ˌNHS ˈNurse

A B C

8.16 National Health Service BP nurse

British Petroleum NHS service station
Territorial Army EU hostel
Young Men’s Christian Association TA member
United States of America USA president
European Union YMCA soldier

DRILL

Repeat the highlighted word using final syllable stress, then say the sentence shifting
the stress to the first syllable:

8.17 1. Cantoˈnese! Let’s have a cantonese wok.

2. refeˈree ! The referee’s assistant has signalled “off-side”.
3. picturˈesque !What a picturesque village this is.
4. millionˈaire ! Dave would love to be a millionaire sportsman.
5. volunˈteer ! As there were no police, they launched a volunteer rescue.
6. Japanˈese ! I enjoy Japanese cinema greatly.

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