<P> Languages in which position of the stress can usually be predicted by a simple rule are said to have fixed stress . For example, in Czech, Finnish, Icelandic and Hungarian, the stress almost always comes on the first syllable of a word . In Armenian the stress is on the last syllable of a word . In Quechua and Polish, the stress is almost always on the penult (second - last syllable). In Macedonian, it is on the antepenult (third - last syllable). </P> <P> Other languages have stress placed on different syllables but in a predictable way, as in Classical Arabic and Latin (whose stress is conditioned by the structure of the penult). They are said to have a regular stress rule . </P> <P> Statements about the position of stress are sometimes affected by the fact that when a word is spoken in isolation, prosodic factors (see below) come into play, which do not apply when the word is spoken normally within a sentence . French words are sometimes said to be stressed on the final syllable, but that can be attributed to the prosodic stress that is placed on the last syllable (unless it is a schwa, when it is the second - last) of any string of words in that language . Thus, it is on the last syllable of a word analyzed in isolation . The situation is similar in Standard Chinese . French (some authors add Chinese) can be considered to have no real lexical stress . </P> <P> Languages in which the position of stress in a word is less predictable are said to have variable stress like English, Russian, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish . Stress is usually truly lexical and must be memorized as part of the pronunciation of an individual word . In some languages, such as in Spanish, in Portuguese and, to some extent in Italian, stress is even represented in writing using diacritical marks, for example in the Spanish words célebre and celebré . In Russian, diacritical marks are sometimes written for people learning the language, whether as a first or second language . </P>

Where is the stress in french words typically placed