English Doesn't Always Stress the Last Syllable

In French, stress typically falls on the last syllable of a phrase in a fairly predictable way, so many French speakers carry that pattern into English, stressing the final syllable of every word. But English stress is unpredictable and moves around depending on the word: 'PHO-to' stresses the first syllable, while 'ho-TEL' stresses the second, and 'in-for-MA-tion' stresses the third. Getting this wrong doesn't just sound off — it can genuinely confuse listeners about which word you mean. Try saying these out loud, exaggerating the stressed syllable in capitals: PHO-to, ho-TEL, com-PU-ter, MU-sic. A quick two-minute trick: whenever you learn a new English word, look it up and mark the stressed syllable with a little accent mark or highlighter before you say it aloud. Building this habit word by word will train your ear to expect English's surprising, flexible stress patterns.