Nouns and verbs distinguished by stress

eg discount entrance export import object [> App 3.1]

When the stress is on the first syllable, the word is a noun, when the

stress is on the second syllable, it is a verb

The meanings are generally related

noun We have finished Book 1 We have made good 'progress

verb We are now ready to pro'gress to Book 2

but can be different

noun My son s 'conduct at school hasn t been very good

verb Mahler used to con'duct the Vienna Philharmonic

2.3.2 Nouns distinguished by pronunciation:

/s/,/z/,/f/,/v /,/ e /,/ d /

When the ending is pronounced with no voice, it is a noun, when it is

pronounced 'hard', it is a verb Sometimes this difference is reflected

in the spelling

/s/ and /z/ abuse/abuse advice/advise house/house use/use

/f/ and /v / belief/believe proof/prove shelf/shelve

/e/,/(/ cloth/clothe teeth/teethe

Exceptions /s/ only in practice (noun)/practise (verb) and licence

(noun)/ license (verb)

And note words like associate graduate and estimate where the

pronunciation of the noun is different from that of the verb I m not a university graduate / grabdDst/ yet I hope to graduate / grabdjDsit / next summer

Nouns and verbs with the same spelling and pronunciation

e g answer change dream end hope offer trouble [> App 3.2]

Compound nouns

Compound nouns

Many nouns in English are formed from two parts (classroom!) or, less commonly, three or more (son-in-law stick in the mud) Sometimes compounds are spelt with a hyphen, sometimes not [> 2.11] They are usually pronounced with the stress on the first syllable, but there are exceptions noted below

Single-word compound nouns

There are many words which we no longer think of as compounds at

all, even though they are clearly made up of two words

e g a 'cupboard a 'raincoat a 'saucepan the 'seaside a 'typewriter

2.6 Nouns formed with adjective + noun

e g a 'greenhouse a 'heavyweight 'longhand a 'redhead

Note the difference in meaning when these words are rearranged as

adjective + noun

a 'heavyweight(= a boxer)

a 'heavy 'weight(= a weight that is heavy)

Nouns

2.7 Nouns formed with gerund + noun

e g 'drinking water a 'frying pan a 'walking stick [> 2.11n3] The meaning is 'something which is used for doing something' e g a frying pan (hyphen optional, = a pan that is used for frying)

Compare other ing + noun combinations which are not compound nouns and where the -ing form is a participle used as an adjective These combinations are not 'fixed', are not spelt with a hyphen, and are stressed in both parts 'boiling 'water (= water that is boiling) [> 6.2, 6.3.1 6.14 16.38 16.39.3]

2.8 Nouns formed with noun + gerund

e g 'horse-riding 'sight seeing 'sunbathing [> 2 11. n. 3]

Here the meaning is 'the action of ' horse-riding (= the action of