1
Stress: the strong vowel
Russian A1 · Unit 3
GoalHear and mark the stressed vowel and know why stress matters in Russian.
New words
вода́ (vodá) · waterмолоко́ (molokó) · milkго́род (górod) · cityокно́ (oknó) · windowкни́га (kníga) · bookспаси́бо (spasíbo) · thank you
Explanation
Every Russian word with two or more vowels has one stressed vowel. It is louder, longer and clearer than the others. Stress can fall on any syllable, and you cannot guess it from the spelling, so learn it together with each word. In this course an acute accent shows it, but Russian books do not print it. Wrong stress can make a word hard to understand, and it can even change the word: за́мок is “castle” and замо́к is “lock”. The letter ё is always stressed, and words with one vowel need no mark.
| First syllable | Second syllable | Third syllable |
|---|---|---|
| ма́ма | вода́ | молоко́ |
| го́род | окно́ | хорошо́ |
| ра́дио | спаси́бо | самолёт |
Worked examples
Same letters, different stress, different word. Press each card and listen to the difference.
моmo·лоlo·ко́kó
Say a long word in beats and make the strong beat louder. In молоко́ the strong beat is the last one.Three words with different stress. Press Listen and tap the rhythm with your finger.
Class activity
Stress drum. Pick ten Russian words you know. Say each one and tap the table on every syllable, with a hard tap on the stressed one. Say the word again and put the stress mark on paper. Check the marks in this course if you are not sure.
Practice
1
Press Listen. Is the stress on the first or on the last syllable?
The last one: сте-на́ (stená), “wall”.
2
In the word молоко́, which syllable is stressed?
The third: мо-ло-ко́.
3
Say “water” and “milk” in Russian. Mark the stress.
вода́ and молоко́.
4
Which word has its stress on the first syllable, го́род or окно́?
го́род
5
Look at the two pictures. Which word means “castle”, за́мок or замо́к?
за́мок: stress on the first syllable. замо́к is “lock”.