insensitive — choose the one that has the correct stress

Analyze the question: You are asked to find the syllable that carries the primary stress in the word "insensitive".

Concept: Stress is the extra force or prominence placed on one syllable of a word. Adding a prefix like in- (meaning "not") usually does not shift the stress of the root word. So we first look at the root word.

Step-by-step solution:

1. Break the word into syllables: in-sen-si-tive (4 syllables).
2. Find the root: sensitive, pronounced SEN-si-tive, with stress on the first syllable of the root.
3. Add the prefix in-: the stress stays on the root's stressed syllable, which is now the second syllable of the whole word. This gives in-SEN-si-tive.
4. Check the other options: • A. IN-sen-si-tive: wrongly stresses the prefix. • C. in-sen-SI-tive: wrongly stresses the third syllable. • D. in-sen-si-TIVE: words ending in -tive are not normally stressed on the ending.

The dictionary pronunciation, /ɪnˈsensɪtɪv/, also confirms stress on the second syllable.

Answer: B. in-SEN-si-tive

Tip: For words with prefixes like in-, un-, dis-, re-, find the stress of the root word first. The prefix usually does not take the stress, so the stress stays on the root. Compare: SEN-si-tive → in-SEN-si-tive, and ef-FEC-tive → in-ef-FEC-tive.