Hadar Shemesh explains how to find stress in long English words using a simple rule: when you add a suffix, the stress usually moves to the syllable right before it. Learn this with words like possibility, responsibility, and technology.
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Welcome to the Influency Podcast. I'm Hadar, and this is episode number 133. And today we're going to talk about how to find stress in long words. Hey, everyone, thank you so much for tuning in for another episode. In case you haven't noticed, I recently started talking a lot about stress. Now, it does not mean that I'm stressed. It just means that I want to stress the fact that stress is important in particular word stress, the one syllable that sticks out the most in a word. Now, I often try to give tips and tricks on how to identify that because I truly think that this is one of the most important things when it comes to to being clear. I think when we misplace the stress, it might be confusing for listeners who are expecting to hear the stress in one place and then they hear it in another place. So they might be thinking, wait, maybe it's a different word. A word where the stress is in that place that you just placed it. Anyway, so you get the point. Stress is important, but you don't need to stress over it. Okay, no more stress jokes. Enough is enough. Today I actually want to share with you not very recent lesson. I think I filmed it like four years ago maybe, but it's really so important and everything I say there is still valid because English hasn't changed much since four years ago. So it's still okay. I'm gonna share it with you in a little bit. But it's a really cool trick to help you know what where the primary stress goes in long words. Because, you know, I always say that English is not consistent and you need to develop intuition and you can't trust the spelling and you can't trust this and you can't trust that. But sometimes there are those magical moments where we can say, this is something you can always rely on. And today's lesson is about that. So I'm not going to make you wait any longer and let's just listen to it and I'll meet you afterwards. Okay? Deal? Deal. Let's listen.
Usually longer words in English have suffixes. What is a suffix? A suffix is this little addition to the word. It's a small unit that you add to the end of the word and it turns the word into a different one, a new word. For example, if you take the word wonder and you add full. Full is the suffix. You get wonderful or possible when you add turns into possibility. Now, the one thing you need to remember, or probably one of the most important things about English pronunciation is where you Place the stress in a word. What is the stress? A stress is the one syllable that sticks out the most. It's the most dominant syllable. It is usually longer, louder, and higher in pitch. For example, in the word possible, the stress falls on the first syllable. Pa possible. But here's the thing. Once I add the suffix, it changes the stress. The placement is changed, so it turns into possibility. So let's deduce from this the general rule in most words with suffixes that's relevant for most suffixes, not all of them. Once you add the suffix, it changes the position of the stress to the one syllable before the suffix. So no matter where the stress is at the beginning, once you add the suffix, the stress falls on the one syllable before the suffix, the one syllable to the left of the suffix. Now, let's go through a few suffixes, how to pronounce the suffix, and I'll give you example words. Let's stay with the suffix. Now listen to the pronunciation of the suffix. The I turns into an. The T is a flap T, so it's a d sout, and then a high e at the end. Possibility. Activity. Responsibility. You see, it's not responsible, it's responsibility. This is the primary stress. Responsibility. Let's take the suffix ekal, as in alphabetical. The suffix is ekol. Primary stress, one syllable before the suffix. Alphabetical.
Political.
Psychological. Psychological. Let's take the suffix as in biology. Primary stress, open eyes and father. And then, although there is an o here, it's not baya. Logi, not logi. And it's definitely not biology. Right? It's biology, technology, sociology. And finally, let's take the suffix mirror. Mirror, as in kilometer. Parameter, not parameter. The stress falls on the one syllable before the suffix. And suffixes are usually reduced. Parameter. Thermometer.
All right, I hope you enjoyed the episode and you understand a little better how you can apply the primary stress in long words and in particular words, words with suffixes. And I hope that if you didn't know what suffixes are, then now you do. If you like this podcast episode, I would love for you to take a few moments, shouldn't take you longer than 30 seconds. And rate the podcast wherever you're listening to it. If it's Apple Podcasts or Spotify, Google Podcast, wherever. There's always a button waiting for you over there to let me know how much you like the podcast. So if you like it, please rate it and even write a review to help other people know that this is the right podcast for them. If they also look to speak English with freedom and clarity and confidence. Thank you so, so much, and I will talk to you next time. Bye.
