English Word Stress – Stress Two-Syllable Words Correctly

When I raise the topic of word stress with a group of non-native English-speaking professionals, I usually get blank stars. Word stress plays a minimal role among non-native speakers, but a huge role in the intelligibility of your spoken English when speaking with native English speakers across borders.

Don’t you know what I’m talking about? Let’s look at a simple example. The word calendar can be divided into 3 syllables: cal-en-dar. Of these three syllables, one is stressed more than the others, which means that it is said louder, longer, in a higher pitch, and/or with a purer vowel sound. In this case, the stressed syllable is the first: CAL-en-dar. In Singapore, for example, the accent of this word has changed to the second syllable, so it is common to hear it pronounced cal-EN-dar. This pronunciation bears little resemblance to the standard one, which is why native English speakers may have a hard time making the connection.

There are many differences between Singapore English word stress and standard word stress. In this short article, I would like to focus on one small piece of this puzzle: two-syllable words. These words are so short that it’s surprising that a simple change in word stress can make such a difference, but it does.

2-syllable nouns and adjectives

Most two-syllable nouns and adjectives have an accent on the first syllable.

However, in Singapore, this stress is often moved to the second syllable, or both syllables are given the same stress. Some words I often hear in Singapore are collEAGUE (instead of COLleague) and purCHASE (instead of PURchase). This pattern of word stress is so ingrained in Singaporeans that many will fight me on this point until they are sad (if we don’t find a dictionary before then).

And it’s not just Singaporeans! My husband, who is not a Singaporean or a native English speaker, came home the other day and told me that he had some purchase orders to write. When I corrected his pronunciation, he completely resisted and declared that this time, he was definitely wrong! I asked him where he learned this word, and when he said: “From my colleagues!” I decided to give up.

2 syllable verbs

2-syllable nouns, when used as verbs, change their stress to the second syllable.

Most nouns that also have a verb form (for example: progress, present, object, produce, record) will be stressed on the first syllable when used as a noun, and on the second syllable when used as a verb. Take for example the word progress. Notice how the accent changes depending on how the word is used.

We are making great progress in this field. (noun)

New technologies are helping us to PROGRESS in this field. (verb)

Unfortunately for us, there are many exceptions to this rule. Some words will remain the same (maintaining the stress on the first syllable), such as answer, picture, travel, visit, and several others.

Do you remember the old taxi reservation recording? “Please don’t hang up. We are processing your reservation now.” According to our rule of thumb, this pronunciation would make sense, but unfortunately word processing is an exception. Listen carefully the next time you order your taxi. You’ll notice that they now use the correct pronunciation, ‘PROcessing’.

If you’ve never heard of word stress before reading this article, don’t stress too much! The good news is that non-native English speakers pay little attention to word stress when speaking English to each other. Ironically, only native English speakers get confused! If you find that native speakers have trouble understanding you, pay special attention to how you emphasize your words. Sometimes it doesn’t matter what you say, but how you say it!