Present (pronunciation)

Some of the ambiguities around the word present have to do with pronunciation. (For links to some of the other ambiguities, see Present.) The word has different stress depending on whether it is a noun or a verb.

• The adjective Present (~ 'here and now') and the noun 'a present' (~ 'a gift', or a substantive use of any of several meanings of the adjective) are both pronounced with stress on the first syllable, whose vowel is like that of 'get' and 'set'; the second vowel is the indeterminate English schwa: 'PREZ-ernt', IPA: /ˈprɛ zənt/. These include the grammatical term. For more about the meaning(s) of 'present' as an adjective see Adjectives whose meaning depends on position.
• In the verb, meaning 'to introduce' or 'to show', and 'to give', the stress is on the second syllable, which also has the sound of 'get'; the first vowel is an '-i-', usually that of 'it' and 'is, but sometimes more like that of 'machine' ('pri-ZENT' or 'pree-ZENT', IPA: /prɪ ˈzɛnt/ or IPA: /priː ˈzɛnt/).

The same is true, mutatis mutandis of the forms + -s - the plural of the noun and the 3rd person singular in the present tense of the verb: a child will usually receive 'PREZ-erntz' on its birthday. This sometimes 'pree-ZENTz' a problem to the parents.

• • • If you want to write a word meaning 'sent beforehand', it is best to use a hyphen: pre-sent. This reduces the possibility of ambiguous readings. (It is pronounced with an unvoiced '-s-', as opposed to the voiced consonant '-z-' of present.)

Note

This pattern of shifting stress in words that look identical but belong to two separate word classes is quite common in English.

Quirk (1985) (Appendix I.56 B) describes the most common: "When verbs of two syllables are converted into nouns, the stress is sometimes shifted from the second to the first syllable. The first syllable, typically a Latin prefix, often has a reduced vowel /ə/ in the verb but a full vowel in the noun: He was con-VICT-ed (IPA: /kən ˈvɪkt ɪd/) of theft, and so became a CON vict (IPA: /ˈkɒn vɪkt/)" [AWE's rendition of IPA].

There follows a list of some 57 "words having end-stress as verbs but initial stress as nouns in Br[itish] E[nglish]." Note that "in Am[erican] E[nglish], many have initial stress as verbs also". Quirk's list is the foundation of AWE's category:shift of stress. Additions have been made from, amongst others, Fowler, 1926-1996.