If you are unsure about which part to stress and don’t have access to a dictionary or a native speaker, then stress the first part.
In some books you’ll find lots of complicated rules about which word to stress. Learning these rules will be pointless because there are so many exceptions. However, I have listed some general tendencies below that will help you. I suggest that you circle any compounds that you usually pronounce with a different stress pattern.
If you find that there is too much information to take in on this worksheet – then ignore everything! Just make a list of the compound nouns you use regularly and learn their individual stress patterns.
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When we stress the second part (remember these are tendencies – there are exceptions!) When the second word is made of the first word (either an ingredient or material):
banana smoothie cheese sandwich cherry pie
chocolate biscuit cotton wool leather shoes
plastic bag tomato soup wooden floor
[Exceptions include juice and cake: ‘orange juice, ‘cheesecake]
Place Names
British Mu‘seum Buckingham ‘Palace
Euston ‘Station Heathrow ‘Airport
Hyde ‘Park Leicester ‘Square
[The exception is the word street which is not stressed: ‘Oxford Street, ‘Bond Street]