Stress on the First Syllable

Level 1

Stress the first syllable: TE-re, EES-ti, Õ-pe-ta-ja. The rest of the word is said lightly and clearly, without swallowing vowels.

How It Works

In native Estonian words the main stress always falls on the first syllable. Capitals below show the stressed syllable:

  • TE-re (hello)
  • EES-ti (Estonia, Estonian)
  • Õ-pe-ta-ja (teacher)
  • RAA-ma-tu-ko-gu (library)

Stress in Estonian is not as strong as in English. Unstressed vowels keep their full sound, so the a in õpetaja is still a clear a, not a weak "uh".

Long words have a lighter, secondary beat, usually on the third or fifth syllable: Õ-pe-TA-ja. In compounds, each part starts with its own beat, and the first part is the strongest: RAA-ma-tu-KO-gu (raamatu + kogu). See compound nouns.

There are exceptions:

  • Many loanwords keep a later stress from the original language: ba-NAAN (banana), res-to-RAN (restaurant), pro-FES-sor (professor).
  • A few native words are stressed on the second syllable, such as ai-TÄH (thanks) and sõb-RAN-na (female friend).

Stress matters because Estonian length lives in the stressed syllable. A long or overlong sound is almost always in the first syllable. See short, long and overlong.

Examples (6)

  1. Tere hommikust!

    Good morning!

    Word by Word: Hello morning-from!

    TE-re and HOM-mi-kust are both stressed on the first syllable.

  2. Õpetaja on klassis.

    The teacher is in the classroom.

    Word by Word: Teacher is class-in.

    Õ-pe-ta-ja: the main stress is on õ, with a light beat on ta.

  3. Eesti keel on ilus.

    Estonian is a beautiful language.

    Word by Word: Estonian language is beautiful.

    EES-ti, KEEL and I-lus all start strong.

  4. Aitäh!

    Thank you!

    An exception: ai-TÄH is stressed on the second syllable.

  5. Ma söön banaani.

    I'm eating a banana.

    Word by Word: I eat banana.

    Banaan is a loanword stressed on the second syllable: ba-NAA-ni.

  6. Lähme restorani.

    Let's go to a restaurant.

    Word by Word: Let's-go restaurant-into.

    Restoran keeps its loanword stress on ran: res-to-RA-ni.

Common Mistakes

  • Putting the main stress on a later syllable of a native word. (Capitals show the stressed syllable.)

    õ-pe-TA-ja
    Õ-pe-ta-ja

    Native words are stressed on the first syllable. Ta only gets a light secondary beat.

  • Stressing the second part of a compound more than the first.

    raa-ma-tu-KO-gu
    RAA-ma-tu-ko-gu

    In a compound the first part carries the main stress. Kogu gets only a lighter beat.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Stress on the First SyllableLevel 1

Learn This First

Stress is learned once words can be read aloud.