PRONUNCIATION : stress

Let’s start with this fundamental aspect of pronunciation: RHYTHM!

You know the rhythm from every song you hear.

For example, here is a lyric line that everyone knows : “We are the champions, my friend!”

Try to sing this line with another word in it : “We are the losers, my friend!” / “We are the crazies, my friend!”

Are you able to sing this line to the same rhythm?

Even if you are not a diva and or if you don’t have no plans to give rock concerts any time soon, the answer should be “yes”! The rhythm doesn’t change.

What about the next example : “We are the accountants, my friend!”?
If you try to sing this phrase, you can notice that the rhythm is broken! It makes you lose this nice melody that you sang with your beautiful voice.

Can you guess why “champion” cannot be replaced with “accountant” (I mean from the point of view of the rhythm, not from the point of view of the meaning!)

“champion” has two syllables (“cham”+”pion”, and the first syllable is pronounced more strongly, with more force : “champion”
“accountant” has three syllables (“a”+”ccount”+”tant”), and the middle syllable is pronounced with more force : “accountant”

When you speak English, without trying to sing, the idea is the same: every word has its rhythm, and if you don’t follow it, disasters will happen (well, they won’t really be disasters on an international scale, exactly, but still):
– the sound of your words will be unplesant to your English-speaking audience (except if they are from the same country as you, in which case it will appear normal to them)
– your audience might not understand you at all, even if you make correct phrases with good vocabulary!

So, the key to pronouncing any English word is to identify its “melodic center” – the one syllable that is pronounced more strongly, with more energy and even pressure (in grammar it’s called “stress” – not because it makes someone nervous, but because it puts pressure)

How do you find the “melodic center” of a word? Well, if the word has only one syllable, it’s not very difficult! However, when a word has two or more syllables, this is where the fun starts : you will need to memorize the right pronounciation!

There are no rules, just practice, practice, and practice!

Here is your PRACTICE. Look at every word and try to guess where the “melodic center” is. Then check yourself!

I really can’t understand this situation. It’s inexplicable!

inexplicable – click here to listen to the word:
INEXPLICABLE | English meaning – Cambridge Dictionary

I love this Internet site that gives really great tips on how to learn English. The site is still small, but I think it will develop more in the future.

develop – click here to listen to the word:
DEVELOP | English meaning – Cambridge Dictionary

We’ve been jogging for an hour now! I feel like I’m going to die, but you still look so fresh! Where do you get all this energy?

energy – click here to listen to the word:
ENERGY | English meaning – Cambridge Dictionary

I think that when you are an actor, it’s more difficult to play an evil character that a nice one.

evil character – click here to listen to the words:
EVIL | English meaning – Cambridge Dictionary
CHARACTER | English meaning – Cambridge Dictionary

I can’t believe what you are telling me! It’s extraordinary!

extraordinary – click here to listen to the word:
EXTRAORDINARY | English meaning – Cambridge Dictionary

I’m not really interested in knowing what you had for lunch. You don’t need to give me every little detail!

detail – click here to listen to the word:
DETAIL | English meaning – Cambridge Dictionary