By Julie Cunningham, MA, CCC-SLP — licensed speech-language pathologist
Clear English pronunciation is not only about pronouncing consonants and vowels correctly. I can pronounce the word computer with each sound correctly articulated - computer - but what if I say it like this: COM-pu-ter. COM-pu-ter. Something sounds...off… You may also like: Hot DOG vs. HOT Dog: Advanced English Stress Patterns.
How many syllables in computer? Three: com-pu-ter, with the stress on the middle syllable.
So what did I change? I changed the stress pattern in the word computer. That word is usually said with the stress pattern da-DA-da. Computer. But I changed it to DA-da-da. COM-pu-ter. And it sounded incorrect.
In order to learn how to pronounce English clearly and naturally, you need to master the stress patterns of spoken English as well as the pronunciation of English sounds.
But before you can master the stress patterns of English, you need to learn about syllables.
Syllables are the beat, or the rhythm, of a word. Let’s go back to the word computer, and I’ll clap to the beat to identify how many syllables it has. Com-pu-ter. Com-pu-ter. Computer has three syllables.
Here are more examples of syllable counting: Chocolate; House; Engineer.
How many syllables are in each word? Let’s clap to the beat: chocolate - 2; house - 1; engineer - 3.
Once you can hear the syllables in a word, you should begin to identify that some syllables are longer, or stressed more, than other syllables. This is because English is a stress-timed language. Some syllables are longer, or stressed, and some syllables are shorter, or unstressed.
Let’s go back to the word computer, and I’m going to use the syllables “DA - da” to help identify the syllable and stress pattern. DA is for a stressed syllable, and da is for an unstressed syllable.
In the word computer, can you hear that one syllable is stressed the most? It’s the second syllable, PU: com - PU - ter. da-DA-da. And to show that PU is the stressed syllable, it is pronounced longer, louder, and at a higher pitch than the other syllables in the word. Listen again: com - PU - ter. com-PU-ter. da-DA-da.
As you listen to spoken English, you should be able to hear the rhythm of stressed syllables and unstressed syllables, stressed syllables and unstressed, throughout the spoken message. This is the rhythm of spoken English.
Hearing where the stress falls is the first step; making it automatic in your own speech is what we work on week by week in my 5-Week Intensive Accent Class.
Here are some practice words to help you identify syllables and syllable stress. Try to count the number of syllables and identify which syllable receives the most stress.
Hello
da-DA
2nd syllable is stressed
Paper
DA-da
1st syllable is stressed
Vacation
da-DA-da
2nd syllable is stressed
Radio
DA-da-da
1st syllable is stressed
Anyone
DA-da-da
1st syllable is stressed
Afternoon
da-da-DA
3rd syllable is stressed
Understand
da-da-DA
3rd syllable is stressed
Education
da-da-DA-da
3rd syllable is stressed
Absolutely
da-da-DA-da
3rd syllable is stressed
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This is one of the top pronunciation challenges for native speakers of Farsi/Persian, Filipino/Tagalog, Korean, Turkish and Vietnamese. See my guides for Farsi/Persian, Filipino/Tagalog, Korean, Turkish and Vietnamese speakers.
Stress and connected speech go hand in hand. See how stress interacts with unstressed syllables and word reductions, and how it relates to the glottal stop in American English.
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