Describing people and things: how to stress adjectives
Short answer: When you describe, the adjective carries the information, so it gets the stress: My cat is BIG. She has LONG hair. The ball is RED. Say the nouns clearly too, and keep small words such as is, has and the weak. In a phrase like long hair, both words are important, so the stress usually falls on the noun: long HAIR.
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At a glance
| Sentence | Stressed words | Note |
|---|---|---|
| My cat is big. | CAT, BIG | is is weak: /ɪz/ |
| She has long hair. | LONG, HAIR | has is weak |
| The ball is red. | BALL, RED | the is /ðə/ |
| It is a tall tree. | TALL, TREE | a is /ə/ |
How to make the sound
- Find the content words: nouns and adjectives.
- Stress the adjective that gives new information (BIG, RED).
- Say is, has, the and a with weak forms.
- Keep final consonants clear: big, red, tall.
Examples in sentences
- My cat is big.
Stress BIG: /maɪ kæt ɪz ˈbɪg/. - She has long hair.
Stress LONG and HAIR. - The ball is red.
Stress RED: /ðə bɔl ɪz ˈrɛd/. - He is tall.
Stress TALL. - It is a small house.
Stress SMALL and HOUSE. - The sky is blue.
Stress BLUE.
Common problems
- Stressing is or has: Say is and has softly. The information is in the adjective.
- Dropping the final consonant: Saying “bi” for big. Keep /g/.
- Equal stress on every word: Pick the important words and make them stronger.
For Vietnamese speakers
- Practice the sound /r/ in red and /l/ in long to keep them different.
- Keep the vowel in big short: /ɪ/, not /i/.
Check yourself
- Which word is stressed in “The ball is red”?
Show the answer
RED The adjective.
- Is “is” stressed?
Show the answer
No. It is a weak word.
- What is the final sound of “big”?
Show the answer
/g/ Keep it clear.
Questions
Why stress adjectives?
They give the new information about the noun.
What if the noun is new?
Then the noun is stressed too. Both are content words.
Do I always stress the adjective?
Usually. If you contrast, you may stress another word: not a SMALL cat, a BIG cat.
More lessons in this part
- Greetings & Introductions
- Asking & Answering
- Requests & Politeness
- Telling Short Stories
- Real-Life Speaking Challenge
Part of the 👄 Pronunciation tool: Speaking & Communication. See also the English pronunciation guide. Đọc bằng tiếng Việt.
Written for English learners by the English for Fun team. How we write our lessons · Last updated 2026-11-05.
Reviewed by Chinh Q. Hoang, PhD, founder, English for Fun · 2026-10-30