Word stress
Word stress is very important if you want to have clear speech. Word stress means that one syllable is pronounced a little longer, higher, and louder than other syllables.
For example, pronunciation has five syllables and is pronounced as pro·nun·ci·A·tion with the /eɪ/ sound stressed.
Look at these words connected to the healthcare system from the video. Do you know how many syllables there are? Do you know where the stress is in each word?
- patient
- government
- religious
- poverty
- sanitation
- organization
- elective
For example, listen to this.
How many syllables are there in patient?
Listen again for word stress. Which syllable is longer, higher, and louder?
Which syllable is stressed? is it pa·tient or pa·tient?
Let’s practice word stress!