There are certain words in the English language that can be used as either nouns or verbs. Put stress on the first syllable when saying a noun. Put stress on the second syllable when saying a verb.
Caution: This rule does not apply to all words that can be used as either a noun or verb.
Practice pronouncing the words and sentences in this exercise with correct stress patterns. Listen to the audio file as you follow along with the Contrasting Noun-Verb Stress exercises below.
Exercises:
Here are a group of words that have two possible stress patterns depending on whether they are used as a noun or a verb. Listen carefully to the stress patterns. Can you hear the difference? Notice that the nouns have stress on the first syllable and that the verbs have stress on the second or last syllable.
NOUN |
VERB |
| combine The farmer has a combine for his fields. |
combine She will combine all of the ingredients. |
| permit I bought a park permit for ten dollars. |
permit Will you permit me to enter the enclosure? |
| object The object is precious to us. |
object Do you object to his decision? |
| content What are the contents of the locker? |
content I am content to stay at home tonight. |
| rebel The rebel had an important cause. |
rebel I will rebel against the oppressive regime. |
| progress What kind of progress can I expect? |
progress The assistance helped Dan to progress quickly. |
| contest Sara entered the poster contest. |
contest I think he should contest his father’s will. |
| present She will love that present. |
present He will present his business plan to us. |
| address What is your current address? |
address Please address me as Mr. Roberts. |
| desert The Sahara desert is vast. |
desert Jerry plans to desert the army. |
| insult What he said is an insult to me. |
insult Do not insult my intelligence. |
| contrast The colour contrast is beautiful. |
contrast Should I contrast red and green in this picture? |
| entrance The entrance to the theatre was blocked. |
entrance We were entranced by the performance. |
| discount Will you give me a 25% discount? |
discount I promise not to discount your ideas. |
| conduct His conduct was admirable in that situation. |
conduct Please conduct yourself with integrity. |
| record Do you have a record of your birth? |
record I did not record our conversation. |
| survey Karen will send the completed survey back. |
survey The premier came out to survey the damage. |
| converse Her ideas are converse to what I thought. |
converse I will converse with you in private. |
| produce I buy all of my produce at Superstore. |
produce How much oil does that well produce? |
| defect There is a serious defect in his heart. |
defect His family was forced to defect for their safety. |
| subject What was your favourite subject in school? |
subject Please do not subject me to that situation again. |
| project I have been assigned to the Hibernia Project. |
project What do you project for our future earnings? |
| convert She is a convert to healthy eating. |
convert Will you convert to Catholicism? |
| protest The protest remained peaceful. |
protest I protest the thought of you joining my practice. |
| reject The reject pile was growing larger. |
reject I am forced to reject those controversial ideas. |
| refuse The refuse dump is outside of town. |
refuse She will not refuse my kind request. |
| suspect The primary suspect was a known criminal. |
suspect Do you think Carl will suspect anything? |
| conflict The conflict was resolved easily. |
conflict I think that meeting conflicts with my schedule. |
| envelope I addressed the envelope to Mrs. Knight. |
envelope A warm feeling enveloped my body. |