Stress shifting as a means of making new words

—   Hello, boys and girls! My name is James Wilson.

—   And my name is Martin Green. Welcome to our grammar lesson!

—   Guys, you won’t believe us if we tell you what happened to our friend Nathaniel yesterday!

—   You need to hear the story!

—   Yesterday I was talking to my mom on the phone outside when suddenly something strange appeared in the sky.

—   I saw five spaceships. I couldn’t believe my eyes! They circled over me. Then two green creatures appeared out of one of the spaceships. It was aliens. One of them looked older than the other one.

—   Then the younger alien started walking right up to me. He came to me and said: “Hello, Earthman! We came in peace and we need your help!”.

—   W-what is it?

—   We want to make peace with people on Earth, but they don’t understand us! Look at our conversation, please, and tell me what’s wrong with it!

—   Oh, sure.

—   Hello, Earthmen! We want to make peace with you! We also want to présent you something.

—   What?! You want to make peace and ask us to give you a présent?! It’s unbelievable!

—   No, no, no… You don’t understand us!

—   We understand exactly what you mean! We don’t want to make peace with you!

—   See? What did I say wrong?

—   Oh, it’s very simple. You put the stress on the wrong syllable. Don’t worry I’ll explain everything to you!

—   Thanks. I'd appreciate it!

Today in the lesson we will:

·        tell you about stress shifting as a means of making new words;

And

·        put the knowledge into a practice.

In the English language if we change the stress in the existing words without changing their morphological structure, we can form new words.

Pay attention! We put the stress on the first syllable in the nouns, but on the second syllable – in the verbs.

When we change the stress in the existing words, we can get two types of new words:

One. The words which have the same general meanings with the initial words.

And

Two. The words which have completely different meanings.

Let’s look closely at some words of the first type and compare them.

·        One of the most frequently used words is the word “présent”.

We put the stress on the first syllable, that’s why this word is a noun. The translation is “подарок”.

For instance: Alison bought a wonderful présent for her daughter yesterday.

Now let’s put the stress on the second syllable. We’ll get the word “to presént”. It’s a verb. The translation is “дарить, вручать”.

For instance: George wanted to find something special to presént to his wife. It was their anniversary.

·        Let’s look at the word “cónflict”. This word is a noun, because we stressed the first syllable. The translation is “конфликт”.

For instance: Anne had a cónflict with her sister the other day, because of her untidiness.

If we put the stress on the second syllable, we’ll get “to conflíct”. It’s a verb. The translation is “конфликтовать”.

For instance: Molly has a bad temper. She started to conflíct with all her classmates.

·        The following word is “cóntrast”. It’s a noun. The translation is “контраст”.

For instance: This small town is a total cóntrast to New York.

Let’s change the stress. Now we have the word “to contrást”. It’s a verb. The translation is “контрастировать”.

For instance: Jenifer’s blonde hair contrásted sharply with her blue short dress.

·        Let’s compare the following words. The first word is “íncrease”. It’s a noun. The translation is “увеличение”.

For instance: There won’t be a great íncrease in the number of employees in the factory.

If we stress the second syllable, we’ll get the word “to incréase”. It’s a verb. The translation is “увеличивать”.

For instance: My parents have incréased their collection of old movies.

·        Let’s look at the word “ímport”. This word is a noun. The translation is “импорт”.

For instance: The ímport of women’s clothes has been decreased.

If we put the stress on the second syllable, we’ll get “to impórt”. It’s a verb. The translation is “импортировать”.

For instance: Georgia impórts medical preparations from Turkey.

·        The following word is “éxport”. It’s a noun. The translation is “экспорт”.

For instance: The éxport of wooden furniture has increased.

Let’s change the stress. Now we have the word “to expórt”. It’s a verb. The translation is “экспортировать”.

For instance: Canada expórts cars to the USA.

—   All of these words have the same general meanings with the initial words.

—   Oh, I see! Can we look closely at some words of the second type?

—   Yes, of course!

·        The first word is “áddress”.  It’s a noun. The translation is “адрес”.

For instance: Mike, do you know Dora’s áddress? I want to send her a card.

Let’s change the stress. Now we have the word “to addréss”. It’s a verb. The translation is “обращаться, рассматривать”.

For instance: Did anyone allow you to addréss the president?

·        The second word is “óbject”.  It’s a noun. The translation is “объект, предмет”.

For instance: Jake, do you see the óbject over there?

If we put the stress on the second syllable, we’ll get “to objéct”. It’s a verb. The translation is “возражать, выступать против”.

For instance: Kyle, would you objéct if I buy milk chocolate?

·        The third word is “désert”.  It’s a noun. The translation is “пустыня”.

For instance: Cody walked through the désert with his wife.

If we stress the second syllable, we’ll get the word “to desért”. It’s a verb. The translation is “покидать без разрешения”.

For instance: Robert, please, don’t desért the army. You’ll have problems.

·        The fourth word is “réfuse”.  It’s a noun. The translation is “мусор, отходы”.

For instance: We need to keep plastic réfuses separately.

Let’s change the stress. Now we have the word “to refúse”. It’s a verb. The translation is “отказываться, отклонять”.

For instance: If Lily refúses to go to Italy, I’ll go instead of her.

·        The fifth word is “éxtract”.  It’s a noun. The translation is “отрывок”.

For instance: Mia, could you read me an éxtract from your new book?

If we put the stress on the second syllable, we’ll get “to extráct”. It’s a verb. The translation is “вырывать, извлекать, вытаскивать”.

For instance: I’m afraid to go to the doctor! He’ll extráct my tooth.

—   As you can see, all of these words have completely different meanings.

—   Yes, I see. Thank you, Earthman! I think I understood everything you said, but I would like to practise a little bit.

—   Sure, no problem.

Complete the sentences using the words from the boxes.

One.

The words are: óbject and objéct.

Check yourselves.

Did you see the óbject over there?

Liam, would you objéct if I go to the cinema?

Two.

The words are: cónflict and conflíct.

Check yourselves.

Dad and I had a cónflict yesterday.

I’ll conflíct with everyone who touches my family.

Three.

The words are: réfuse and refúse.

Check yourselves.

Where do we need to keep the réfuse?

I refúse to take your money.

Four.

The words are: áddress and addréss.

Check yourselves.

I want to visit Nora. Do you know her áddress?

We want to addréss to all of you. We need your help!

Five.

The words are: présent and presént.

Check yourselves.

Ryan bought me a wonderful présent.

Zoe, I would like to presént you this necklace.

Six.

The words are: íncrease and incréase.

Check yourselves.

The íncrease in unemployment was inevitable.

Luke wants to incréase his collection of coins.

—   Now I completely understood my mistake. I’ll try to make peace with people on Earth once again. Thank you, Earthman!

—   You’re welcome. I’m sure that you won’t have any problems this time. Good luck!

—   Thanks! Bye!

—   Bye!

—   Nathaniel, thanks for your story.

—   You’re welcome.

—   That’s all for today. We hope you liked the lesson.

—   See you soon, our friends.