Trap 21 of 22 · French speakers
Stress before -ic: economic, political
L'accent avant -ic : economic, political
What French speakers do
You stress the last syllable, as in French: écono-MIQUE, politi-CAL, fantas-TIQUE.
The American rule
Stress the syllable right before -ic or -ical: eco-NOM-ic, po-LIT-ical, fan-TAS-tic. A few exceptions: POL-itics, AR-abic.
This is one of the most reliable stress rules in English: in a word ending in -ic or -ical, the stress falls on the syllable immediately before the ending.
- e-co-NOM-ic, sci-en-TIF-ic, au-to-MAT-ic
- po-LIT-i-cal, his-TOR-i-cal, LOG-i-cal
Learn the handful of exceptions as exceptions — POL-itics, AR-abic, CATH-olic, LUN-atic — and the rule does the rest.
The words
economic
/ˌikəˈnɑmɪk/
✗é-ko-no-MIK
✓ee-kuh-NAH-mik
“The economic news is good.”
political
/pəˈlɪtɪkəl/
✗po-li-ti-KAL
✓puh-LID-ih-kul
“It's a political decision.”
politics
/ˈpɑlətɪks/
✗po-li-TIK
✓PAH-luh-tiks
An exception: stress on the first syllable.
“I try not to talk about politics.”
electric
/ɪˈlɛktrɪk/
✗é-lek-TRIK
✓ih-LEK-trik
“We bought an electric car.”
scientific
/ˌsaɪənˈtɪfɪk/
✗syan-ti-FIK
✓sy-un-TIF-ik
“There's no scientific proof.”
fantastic
/fænˈtæstɪk/
✗fan-tas-TIK
✓fan-TAS-tik
“That's fantastic news!”
specific
/spəˈsɪfɪk/
✗spé-si-FIK
✓spuh-SIF-ik
“Can you be more specific?”
automatic
/ˌɔtəˈmætɪk/
✗o-to-ma-TIK
✓aw-duh-MAD-ik
“The doors are automatic.”
historical
/hɪˈstɔrɪkəl/
✗is-to-Ri-KAL
✓his-TOR-ih-kul
“It's a historical building.”
public
/ˈpʌblɪk/
✗pü-BLIK
✓PUB-lik
“The park is open to the public.”
logical
/ˈlɑdʒɪkəl/
✗lo-ji-KAL
✓LAH-jih-kul
“That's the logical choice.”