Word Stress

Word Stress

Stress patterns show you which parts of a word you should emphasize when you say the word. We show stress marks in
front of the part of the word that should be emphasized.

/’ / (the primary stress symbol) This symbol shows you the part of a word that you should emphasize most. For example, in the word picture /’pɪk.tʃer/ you should emphasize the first part and in the word deny /dɪ’naɪ/ you should emphasize the second part

/,/ (the secondary stress symbol) This symbol shows you the part of the word that has the second most important emphasis. This is important if you are pronouncing a long word with three or more syllables. For example, in the word submarine
/,s ʌb.mər’i:n/ the main emphasis is on the last part of the word but you should also put slight emphasis on the first part of the word as well.