30th January 2004, 11:57 AM
Accents don't affect pronunciation in one-syllable words, but in words with two syllables or more, there are rules as to where the stress goes, and only with an accent can the stress be placed elsewhere. Without an accent, a word ending in a vowel, n, or s places its stress on the second-to-last syllable and a word ending with a consonant other than n or s places its stress on the very last syllable.