手把手教你学口语04

Welcome to Daily Tips on Learning English. Today’s tip is on how syllable¹ stress can affect the meaning of words.

Remenber that stressed syllables² are said louder and are lengthened³, and unstressed syllables are pronounced more softly, and often have the vowel⁴ sounds reduced.

Sometimes, this difference can be the difference between a verb and a noun, or an adjective.

There are at least 14 pairs of words in which syllable stress alone makes this difference. Some examples include `addict, a`ddict, `convict, con`vict, `perfect, per`fect. Each time the second syllable is stressed, the word is a verb. When the first syllable is stressed, the word is either a noun or an adjective. Let’s look some examples more closely. `Permit, per`mit, a `permit is a noun, it is a piece of paper which authorizes<sup>5</sup> you to do something. For instance, a fishing `permit allows you to go fishing. Per`mit is a verb. It means to allow. For instence, fishing isn’t per`mitted here without a `permit.

Another example is `perfect, per`fect. `Perfect is an adjective. It means 100% correct, no mistakes or errors. The verb is per`fect, it means to make something perfect. For example, “I want to per`fect my English” means “I want to make my English perfect”. Make sure you stress the right syllable. It can be the differece between different parts of speech. This has been today’s daily tip. Till then, tomorrow, for another tip on learning English.

1 syllable   

n.音节；vt.分音节

参考例句：

• You put too much emphasis on the last syllable.你把最后一个音节读得太重。
• The stress on the last syllable is light.最后一个音节是轻音节。

2 syllables   

n.音节( syllable的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a word with two syllables 双音节单词
• 'No. But I'll swear it was a name of two syllables.' “想不起。不过我可以发誓，它有两个音节。” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

3 lengthened   

（时间或空间）延长，伸长( lengthen的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The afternoon shadows lengthened. 下午影子渐渐变长了。
• He wanted to have his coat lengthened a bit. 他要把上衣放长一些。

4 vowel   

n.元音；元音字母

参考例句：

• A long vowel is a long sound as in the word"shoe ".长元音即如“shoe” 一词中的长音。
• The vowel in words like 'my' and 'thigh' is not very difficult.单词my和thigh中的元音并不难发。

5 authorizes   

授权，批准，委托( authorize的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The dictionary authorizes the two spellings 'traveler' and 'traveller'. 字典裁定traveler和traveller两种拼法都对。
• The dictionary authorizes the two spellings "honor" and "honour.". 字典裁定 honor 及 honour 两种拼法均可。