Dangers of Stressing the Wrong Syllable

Mastering the American Accent » Dangers of Stressing the Wrong Syllable

Dangers of Stressing the Wrong Syllable

Stressing the wrong syllable sometimes creates misunderstandings because people think you are pronouncing a completely different word. The following words are great examples of why syllable stress is such an important component of the American accent.

noble: honorable, distinguished, aristocratic
Nobel: a prestigious award of achievement
“He won the Nobel Prize for his noble effort.”
invalid: a sick or disabled person
invalid: not valid, void
“The invalid has an invalid permit.”
personal: individual, private
personnel: a group of people employed in an organization or a place of work
“Some of the personnel have some personal problems.”
eligible: worthy of choice, suitable, legally qualified
illegible: impossible or hard to read
“You won’t be eligible for that position if your handwriting is illegible.”
pronouns: parts of speech that substitute for nouns are pronouns such as he and she
pronounce: to say words, to utter
“Can you pronounce those pronouns correctly?”
comedy: a humorous drama or play
committee: a group of people elected or appointed to perform a function
“The committee watched a comedy.”
advantages: benefits or gain
advantageous: beneficial, useful
“It would be advantageous to learn about the advantages of that method.”
decade: ten years
decayed: become rotten or ruined
“Their relationship has decayed in the past decade.”
access: ability or right to enter
excess: extra, additional
“Do you have access to the excess data?”
content (noun): the subject matter of a book, speech, etc.
content (adjective): satisfied and happy
“Are you content with the content of that letter?”
career: profession
carrier: a person or company that carries or transports something
“He had a career working for an aircraft carrier.”
discus: a heavy disc of metal thrown in an athletic competition
discuss: to talk over in detail, to examine in speech or writing
“The discus throwers discussed the competition.”

Study Tip

Make a list of words commonly used at your workplace or in your field of study. Ask a colleague or classmate who is a native speaker to pronounce the words for you as you record them. Listen to the recording, carefully noting which syllable is stressed.

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