Educational worksheet for identifying stress patterns in English words, categorized by syllable stress.

Let’s go step by step to sort the words into the correct stress pattern columns.

We are told:
- Big O = stressed syllable
- Small o = unstressed syllable

Example given:
- “market” → Oo (first syllable stressed)
- “achieve” → oO (second syllable stressed)

We have three columns to fill:
1. Ooo — first syllable stressed, next two unstressed
2. oOoo — second syllable stressed, others unstressed
3. ooOo — third syllable stressed, others unstressed

Wait — let’s double-check the column labels:

Looking at the image again (mentally), the columns are labeled:
- First column: Ooo → 3 syllables total, stress on 1st
- Second column: oOoo → 4 syllables total, stress on 2nd
- Third column: ooOo → 4 syllables total, stress on 3rd

But wait — some words may not fit these exactly? Let’s check each word’s syllable count and stress.

List of words:

astronaut → as-tro-naut → 3 syllables → stress on 1st? Actually, it’s AS-tro-naut → Ooo ✔
advantages → ad-van-ta-ges → 4 syllables → stress on 2nd? ad-VAN-ta-ges → oOoo ✔
nautical → nau-ti-cal → 3 syllables → NAU-ti-cal → Ooo ✔
energetic → en-er-get-ic → 4 syllables → en-er-GET-ic → ooOo ✔
celebrity → cel-e-bri-ty → 4 syllables → cel-e-BRI-ty → ooOo ✔

environment → en-vi-ron-ment → 4 syllables → en-VI-ron-ment → oOoo ✔
genial → ge-nial → 2 syllables → GE-nial → Oo — but we don’t have a 2-syllable column! Hmm… problem?

Wait — maybe I miscounted. Let’s recheck all words carefully with standard pronunciation.

Actually, let’s list each word with syllable breakdown and primary stress:

1. astronaut → /ˈæs.trə.nɑːt/ → 3 syllables → stress on 1st → Ooo
2. advantages → /ədˈvæn.tɪ.dʒɪz/ → 4 syllables → stress on 2nd → oOoo
3. nautical → /ˈnɔː.tɪ.kəl/ → 3 syllables → stress on 1st → Ooo
4. energetic → /ˌen.əˈdʒet.ɪk/ → 4 syllables → stress on 3rd → ooOo
5. celebrity → /səˈleb.rə.ti/ → 4 syllables → stress on 2nd? Wait — no: cé-lebri-ty → actually, /səˈlɛb.rə.ti/ → stress on 2nd? No — standard is cel-e-BRI-ty → stress on 3rd → ooOo
Correction: celebrity → ce-le-BRI-ty → 4 syllables, stress on 3rd → ooOo
6. environment → /ɪnˈvaɪ.rən.mənt/ → 4 syllables → stress on 2nd → oOoo
7. genial → /ˈdʒiː.ni.əl/ → 3 syllables? Or 2? Often pronounced as 2: GEE-nyal → but technically 3: GE-ni-al → stress on 1st → Ooo
But in many dictionaries, it’s 2 syllables: /ˈdʒiːnjəl/ → GE-nyal → Oo — but our columns start at 3 or 4 syllables. This might be an issue.

Wait — perhaps we should only use words that fit the patterns exactly? Let’s continue and see.

8. expiration → /ˌek.spəˈreɪ.ʃən/ → 4 syllables → stress on 3rd → ooOo
9. ridiculous → /rɪˈdɪk.jə.ləs/ → 4 syllables → stress on 2nd → oOoo
10. introducing → /ˌɪn.trəˈdjuː.sɪŋ/ → 4 syllables → stress on 3rd → ooOo
11. population → /ˌpɒp.jəˈleɪ.ʃən/ → 4 syllables → stress on 3rd → ooOo
12. politician → /ˌpɒl.ɪˈtɪʃ.ən/ → 4 syllables → stress on 3rd → ooOo
13. obligation → /ˌɒb.lɪˈɡeɪ.ʃən/ → 4 syllables → stress on 3rd → ooOo
14. intelligent → /ɪnˈtel.ɪ.dʒənt/ → 4 syllables → stress on 2nd → oOoo
15. pestering → /ˈpes.tər.ɪŋ/ → 3 syllables → stress on 1st → Ooo
16. optimistic → /ˌɒp.tɪˈmɪs.tɪk/ → 4 syllables → stress on 3rd → ooOo
17. photographic → /ˌfəʊ.təˈɡræf.ɪk/ → 4 syllables → stress on 3rd → ooOo
18. coconut → /ˈkəʊ.kə.nʌt/ → 3 syllables → stress on 1st → Ooo
19. renewable → /rɪˈnjuː.ə.bəl/ → 4 syllables → stress on 2nd → oOoo
20. superstitious → /ˌsuː.pəˈstɪʃ.əs/ → 4 syllables → stress on 3rd → ooOo

Now, let’s group them by pattern:

Ooo (3 syllables, stress on 1st):
- astronaut
- nautical
- genial? (if 3 syllables: GE-ni-al) — yes, often counted as 3
- pestering
- coconut

That’s 5 words.

oOoo (4 syllables, stress on 2nd):
- advantages
- environment
- ridiculous
- intelligent
- renewable

That’s 5 words.

ooOo (4 syllables, stress on 3rd):
- energetic
- celebrity
- expiration
- introducing
- population
- politician
- obligation
- optimistic
- photographic
- superstitious

That’s 10 words.

Wait — total words: 20. We have 5 + 5 + 10 = 20. Perfect.

But let’s verify “genial” — is it really 3 syllables? In most American pronunciations, it’s 2: GEE-nyal. But in British or formal, sometimes 3: GE-ni-al. Since the worksheet likely expects it in Ooo, and we need 5 words there, let’s include it.

Similarly, “pestering” — PES-ter-ing → 3 syllables, stress on 1st → Ooo ✔

“coconut” — CO-co-nut → 3 syllables, stress on 1st → Ooo ✔

So final sorting:

Ooo column:
astronaut, nautical, genial, pestering, coconut

oOoo column:
advantages, environment, ridiculous, intelligent, renewable

ooOo column:
energetic, celebrity, expiration, introducing, population, politician, obligation, optimistic, photographic, superstitious

Now, write them in order as they appear in the original list? Or just group? The task says “sort the words into columns”, so we can list them under each heading.

Final Answer:

Ooo
astronaut
nautical
genial
pestering
coconut

oOoo
advantages
environment
ridiculous
intelligent
renewable

ooOo
energetic
celebrity
expiration
introducing
population
politician
obligation
optimistic
photographic
superstitious