Many people who come to me for accent reduction coaching stress verbs on the wrong syllable. This makes their spoken English sound irregular and accented to the American born listener.
One very common error occurs when people stress the suffix ending verbs. One example is verbs ending with the suffix IZE.
Many non native speakers stress verbs ending in IZE as shown below.
reaLIZE
optiMIZE
strateGIZE
This is incorrect. American English speakers stress these words as written below.
RE➙yǝlize
O➙ptǝmize
STRA➙tǝgize
Do you know the rules for syllable stress in American English verbs? You can test your knowledge by taking the short QUIZ below.
Syllable Stress in American Verbs
Do you know the syllable stress rules for American verbs? Take this short quiz to test your knowledge. You may be stressing these words on the wrong syllable and saying them incorrectly.
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Question 1
Which verb below is written with the correct stress pattern?
A
optǝMIZE➙
B
opTE➙mize
C
O➙ptǝmize
Question 1 Explanation:
Verbs ending with the suffix IZE are stressed 2 or 3 syllables before the suffix.
Question 2
Which verb below is written with the correct stress pattern?
A
dǝLI➙neate
B
delineATE
C
delinE➙ate
Question 2 Explanation:
Verbs that end with the suffix ATE are stressed 1 or 2 syllables before the suffix.
Question 3
Which verb below is written with the correct stress pattern?
A
sign IN
B
SIGN in
C
sign in
Question 3 Explanation:
Phrasal verbs are stressed on the second or last part of the word. Link the 2 parts together for a real "American" sound.
Question 4
Which verb below is written with the correct stress pattern?
A
Tom needs to REcord his earnings.
B
Tom needs to rǝCORD his earnings.
C
Tom needs to REcording his earnings.
Question 4 Explanation:
60% of 2 syllable verbs are stressed on the second syllable.
Question 5
Which verb below is written with the correct stress pattern?
A
Julie wants to discuss about the project.
B
Julie wants to DIScǝss the project.
C
Julie wants to dǝsCUSS the project.
Question 5 Explanation:
60% of 2 syllable verbs are stressed on the second syllable. The vowel in the first syllable gets a schwa vowel sound /ǝ/.
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