Listening for Stress in Compound Words (AmE)

Audio by Barry, LibriVox.org

00:02:46

TYPICAL PATTERNS of STRESS in COMPOUND WORDS

Compound nouns

AIRport, SUpermarket, BUS stop, HIGHway;

POST office, MAILbox, TELephone;

LIVing room, SWIMming pool, PARKing lot;

FOOTball, NIGHT club, LOVE story.

Contrast: Compound noun – Adjective+Noun

GREENhouse – green HOUSE;

DARKroom – dark ROOM;

READing test – reading BOY;

HOT dog – hot TEA.

Phrasal verbs

come BACK, go ON, look OUT;

come IN, turn OFF, sit DOWN;

take OUT, break UP, give IN;

get aLONG, fall aPART, throw aWAY.

Contrast: Phrasal verb – Compound noun

break DOWN – BREAKdown;

take OFF – TAKEoff;

come OUT – OUTcome;

make UP – MAKE-up.

Compound adjectives

a) dark-GREEN, light-BROWN, bright-RED;

old-FASHioned, well-DRESSed, absent-MINDed;

easy-GOing, good-LOOKing, self-CONfident;

b) COLor-blind, WATerproof, AIRsick.

Compound numerals

thirTEEN, nineTEEN, sixTEENTH;

twenty-NINE, forty-EIGHT, fifty-THREE;

five hundred and thirty-SEVen;

one thousand two hundred SIX;

one-HALF, two-THIRDS, one-TWENtieth.

(See Stress in Compound Words in the section Phonetics.)