The stressed syllable are written in capital letters(s). political

Analyze the question: You are asked to find where the primary stress falls in the word "political" (po-LIT-i-cal, 4 syllables).

Explain the concept: In English, words ending in -ical usually take primary stress on the syllable immediately before the -ic- ending. Examples:

• ecoNOMical, hisTORical, geoGRAPHical, and so on. The stress falls on the syllable just before "-ical."

For "political," the syllables are: po - lit - i - cal. The syllable before "-ical" is "lit".

Step-by-step solution:

1. Break the word into syllables: po-lit-i-cal
2. Identify the suffix: -ical (i-cal)
3. The stress falls on the syllable right before the suffix: lit
4. Written out: poLITical

Check the options:

• A. politiCAL: stress on the last syllable, which is wrong
• B. POlitical: this is the stress pattern of "POLitics" or "POLity" (no, not the adjective), so it is wrong here
• C. poliTIcal: stress on "ti", which is wrong
• D. poLITical: correct

Note: "Politics" is stressed as POL-i-tics, but when the suffix -ical is added to form "political," the stress shifts to po-LIT-i-cal.

Tip: For words ending in -ic, -ical, -ics, -ion, the stress usually falls on the syllable just before the ending. Examples: ecoNOMic, phoTOGraphy, eduCAtion. Remember: "stress comes just before the suffix."