perfectly
manager
gardener
busier

Note these words are a mix of adverbs, adjectives and nouns. But the part of speech is not important here. We are focused on word endings.

Ending in –ic, –tion and –sion

Next: Words ending in –ic, –tion and –sion usually have their stress on the second-to-last syllable. This is true for words with three or more syllables. Listen carefully. Word meaning is not important here:

embryonic
catatonic
organization
rendition
permission
indecision

Ending in –al, –gy, –cy, –ty and –phy

Several other word endings decide word stress. They are –al, –gy, –cy, –ty and –phy. For these, the stress is on the third-to-last syllable.

That sounds complex, but it’s easier than you think. For example, here is a word you’ve probably heard often: photography.

Listen to a few more:

entomology
democracy
physical
morbidity
autobiography

Things to know

Kind in mind a few things as you learn and practice English word stress.

First: Some multi-syllable words have two stresses. We call them primary stress (the main, louder stress) and secondary stress (the lower, softer stress). Take the word “alligator.” It has four syllables. The primary stress is on the first syllable. But the third syllable does have a softer, secondary stress.

Second: In English, we stress only vowel sounds. We do not stress consonants. For instance, in the word “photography,” I stressed the second vowel (ɐ). I said it louder and longer than the other vowels. Listen again: photography.

The unstressed syllables are low, fast and often unclear.

And that brings us to our last point: It may feel strange to say some parts of a word lower, quicker and less clear than other parts but, with practice, it will begin to feel more natural.