Lesson 2:

Words:

In English we can build longer words by adding parts to the

beginning or end of shorter words. Usually this does not
change the stress; it stays on the same syllable as the
original. For example..

for
for
for
for
for

un

get
get
get
gett
gett

ful
ful
a
a

ness
ble
ble

This is a list of suffixes and prefixes that do not

change the stress of shorter words.

-able (lovable)
(happiness)

-n/im (impossible)

-ness

-al (musical)
(friendship)

- ise (socialize)

-ship

-er (player)
(unhappy)

-ish

-ful (help)
-under (underpay)

-less (childless)

-hood

(childhood)

-ing (boring)

(childish)

-ly (friendly)
-ment (employment)

-un

However, some endings do change the stress in the shorter

words. The endings: -ion, -ian an ic move the stress to the
syllable before it.

ed

ed
u
mu
mu
art
ar
pub

u
ca
sic
si
ist
tis
lic

cate
tion
cian
Tic

There are many longer word endings where the last letter is
y. In words with these endings, the stress is places on the
third syllable from the end. Example:

pub
a

Pho
cli
Oo
Ooo
oOo

lic
as
stron
chem
chem
Pho
tog
cli
ma

i
tro
o
ist
i
to
graph
mate
tol

ty
my
stry
graph
y
o

gy

Physics, History, Nation,

Clinic
Geography
Relation, Romantic

oOoo
ooOo

Economy, Geology
Population, Mathematics,
Scientific, Economics
Sociology Nationality
Pronunciation, Investigation
Identification

ooOoo
oooOo
ooooOo

Have a g and see if you can write the words below in the
correct box according to the sentence stress rules we have
just covered:
Population, economy, physics, identification, history,
geology, nation, relation, sociology, nationality,
mathematics, romantic, pronunciation, geography,
investigation, scientific, economics, clinic.
Oo
Ooo
oOo
oOoo
ooOo
ooOoo
oooOo
ooooOo
This is a list of suffixes and prefixes that do not change the
stress of shorter words.

-able
-al

-n/im
- ise

-ship

-er

-ish

-ful

-less

-hood
-ing

-ness

-ly
-ment

-un
-under

Some endings do change the stress in the shorter words. The

endings: -ion, -ian an ic move the stress to the syllable
before it.
Longer word endings where the last letter is y, the stress is
placed on the third syllable from the end.

Listen to these words:

recognize

rec ogn ize

fantasize

fan tas ize

socialize

so cial ize

reorganize

re or gan ize

What do they have in common? Listen again, and mark down

where the syllable stress is:

Rule: Whenever you see the suffix ize, count back two
syllables and you'll find the syllable stress.

This is also the same with ary and ate

Notice how it didn't matter how many syllables were in the

word. We're not counting the number of syllables.

Listen and repeat the following words containing the

suffix ary.
Suffix: ary
secretary

sec ret ary

legendary

le gend ary

contemporary

con tem por ary.

Suffix: ate*

.
Pay careful attention to syllable stress; stress falls
two syllables before the suffix.
activate

ac tiv ate

operate

o per ate

exagerrate

e xa gger ate

investigate

in

ves tig ate

Exercise: Listen and repeat the following sentences,

paying careful attention to syllable stress.
I have to activate my credit card.
I didn't recognize him at first.

That singer is legendary in his country.

Syllable stress just through memorization.

If you can memorize the stress of a word just by
memorizing the rhythm, the feel of the word, like it's
music, that's good too!
The Importance of Training
A big part of English pronunciation and accent reduction
is repetition- repeating words and sounds over and over
again until you commit then to memory.
Through repetition, you'll begin to master the sounds of
English. You'll develop what's known as muscle memorythe ability to do something automatically without thinking.
Think of dancers, athletes and musicians- how do they get so
good at what they do?
They practice and repeat over and again!
It's important to have good training tools to
practice your pronunciation.

What do you usually/normally do?

You should be aware of the basic rules and formula for

answering the what do you usually/normally do questions.

What do you do on a typical/average day?

What is your normal daily routine?
Can you describe your typical day?
What do you usually do on weekends?

To answer this kind of question you should

A.)Say what you do at the time period the examiner is
asking you about
B.)Say how often you do these things.

Language steps

1. )Use adverbs of frequency like a native speaker to show

how frequently or infrequently you do something.
Always 100%
Usually 90%
Normally 80%

Often/frequently-70%
Sometimes 50%
Occasionally 30%
Seldom 10%
Hardly ever / Rarely 5%
Never 0%

I often meet up with my classmates.

I sometimes go shopping.
Subject Adverb Main verb
2.) Use the present simple tenses & times of day for general
habits.
I ride my bike every day at 2 oclock.
We have dinner together in the evening.
3.) Show that you can use one or two common sequence
markers.
Before the class starts we talk.
We then go to bed.
Vocabulary that is useful for answering this kind of
question:
Routine:

Noun: Something or a number of things you normally do as a

habit.
Schedule:
Noun: An organized or personal list of things that must be
done at a certain time.
Hangout with somebody:
Phrase: To spend time casually with somebody, maybe a
friend or member of family.

Meet up with somebody:

Phrase. To meet somebody by appointment.
Overtime:
Adverb/noun. Beyond the usual time; extra time spent at
work
Sharp:
Adverb. Exactly the time said, not later or before.
Regular:
Adjective. Similar, usually the same, with little change.
Sample answer:
Tell me about your usual daily routine? Alice
Well. Usually I wake up around 8:am. I always have a cup of
coffee, while I review my study notes over breakfast. Then I
normally ride my bike to school, apart from in the winter,
when its way to cold. Before class starts, I often meet up

with classmates in the corridor and we gossip a bit about life

and school. After school I always go straight home and then
start on my homework while my mum cooks the dinner. I
usually go to bed about 10:pm
Do you do the same thing every day? David
During the week, I have a very regular schedule because of
my job. I always wake up just after 7 in the morning, then
eat my breakfast on the way to the subway station. I get to
work at 8 oclock sharp and usually work until 5, sometimes I
work overtime until 7 or 8. After I get home, I normally eat
dinner with my wife and after that either hang out with
friends or watch T.V before going to bed at about 11.

Adverbs that go after the subject an before the verb:

Always
Often
Never
Almost never
Rarely
Hardly ever
Adverbs that can go before or after a subject:
Usually
Normally
Sometimes

The present simple is used to describe what we do everyday

or very frequently. It is also used together with times of day,
so make sure you are aware of the following.
at + hour + clock = I get up a t six oclock.
at + dawn/noon/midnight = I never get up at dawn.
at + hour + am / in the morning = I usually wake up at 8:am:
Sentence Scrabbles:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

eat/I/buns/steamed/usually
never/I/almost/exercise/do
gets/hardly/ever/home/early/he
she/novels/never/reads
always/my/bike/rides/a/father
lunch/read/magazine/during/I/a/sometimes
I/parents/with/watch/my/TV/normally
play/I/computer/rarely/games
9. weekend/cycling/often/the/go/on/I