Rules of Word Stress in English

There are many rules about using word stress in English but I'm going to start with the simplest first. There are 2 general rules of word stress in English:

*Each word has only one main stress. In short words, there is only one stress. In longer words, there might be a secondary stress but there can only be one main/primary stress.
*Only vowels are stressed, not consonants.

Aside from the above mentioned rules, there are other more complicated rules about word stress in English. I will tell you what they are in my next post. However, I do not recommend that you rely on them solely to know where to put the stress on words because there are many exceptions to the rule. The best thing you can do is to get used to the language.

Gerunds

Gerunds have the same form as the present participles of verbs (those ending in -ing). However, despite that form, they act as nouns in the sentence.

ex.
Singing is one of my hobbies.

In the above example, singing ends in -ing and other people might think it's a verb because it looks like one. However, singing in this sentence acts as a noun (in this case the subject), not as a verb. The verb in this sentence is is.

I hope this post helped you in identifying gerunds from the present participle form of verbs.

Idiom-Tear Down

Idiom-Tear down-destroy

ex. They will tear down the house by noon.

Preposition Quiz

Preposition Quiz

Instructions: Choose the preposition that will make the sentence correct.

1. She was torn______her mom and her husband.
   
   
   1. between
      
   2. among
      
   3. down
   
   
   Answera

2. Bears hibernate ________winter.
   
   
   1. within
      
   2. during
      
   3. concerning
   
   
   Answerb

3. He lives ________574 Heyward St. Sacramento.
   
   
   1. on
      
   2. in
      
   3. at
   
   
   Answerc

4. David got ______the bus this morning.
   
   
   1. on
      
   2. in
      
   3. at
   
   
   
   Answera

5. She went to Australia ____ 1963.
   
   
   1. in
      
   2. on
      
   3. at
   
   
   Answera

Copyright (C) 2009 by D.A.S.

Idiom-Stick by

Idiom-Stick by-to adhere closely to
ex. I love him very much for sticking by me.