Optional: Further discuss how the word form may help us distinguish where to accent a word. For example, word stress may change when a suffix is added.

Stress change may occur when adding a suffix to a word.
Adding -ity, -ic, -ar, -al, -cal and -tion, may cause the stress to move towards that end of the word.

Note the differences in:

  • active, activity
  • sensible, sensibility
  • liberate, liberation (note the change from a verb to a noun)
  • history, historical

Other suffixes (-ness, -ship, -ance, -able, -ful, -al, -hood, -ment, -er, -or, -ly and -ist) do not generally cause a change in stress.

Note the differences in:

  • Biology, biologist
  • Farm, farmer

Within a sentence

  • Have the trainees give you 2 -3 sentences. Write these on the board and have them discuss which words they would say at a louder volume or hold for a longer length of time. (You can give them the example I want to save some money, if they look perplexed.)
    • Words and syllables that carry meaning are spoken at a louder volume and held for a longer length of time than the other syllables.
    • Discuss words which are stressed within a sentence:
      • content words (nouns, most verbs, adjectives and adverbs).
      • demonstratives (this, that, these, those).
      • interrogatives (who, what, where, when and how) other words that are used for emphasis or special meaning.
    • We generally do not stress function words such as articles, prepositions, conjunctions and most pronouns. Helping verbs (be, have, do etc.) should not be stressed.