Boxi Learn › English › Stage 3 · Structure and Evidence
REcord or reCORD?
EN-1 Letters stand for soundsX-1 Guess, then check
What many people think
Every syllable in an English word gets equal weight, like characters in Chinese, so stress doesn't matter if the sounds are right.
The idea
In English one syllable of a word is stressed — longer, louder, higher — and moving it can change the word: in many two-syllable pairs the noun is stressed first (a REcord) and the verb second (to reCORD).
Explain it
A friend says the stress in an English word doesn't matter as long as each sound is right. Use "present" in one sentence to show them why it does.
Try at home
Clap the beats of a word: one big clap for the stressed syllable, one small clap for the other. Clap "a PREsent" and "to preSENT", then try record, object and rebel.