AI Tutor
Did you know that shifting the emphasis on a single syllable can completely transform what a word means?
Say the word object out loud. If you mean an item on your desk, you say OB-ject, but if you disagree in a debate, you ob-JECT.
What actually happens to your voice when a syllable gets stressed?

Anatomy of Syllable Stress

A stressed syllable is spoken louder, at a higher pitch, and held for a slightly longer duration than surrounding syllables.
Unstressed syllables usually lose their clear vowel sound and soften into a schwa (/Ι™//Ι™/), which sounds like a quick, relaxed 'uh'.
Can we predict which syllable gets the stress in two-syllable words?

The Noun-Verb Stress Rule

Words that share the exact same spelling but have different pronunciations and meanings are called heteronyms.
For two-syllable heteronyms, nouns and adjectives almost always take stress on the first syllable, while verbs take stress on the second syllable.