"Comparable" - which syllable should be stressed?

I'm not a native but that's also something I wondered about a while ago.
My american colleagues with whom I speak over the phone would all stress the first syllable.
However my Harrap's dictionary tells me both are acceptable, meaning the stressed syllable can be either the first one or the second one.
I would think stressing the second syllable is ok, but maybe not the most common pronunciation...
Hope this helped.
Waïti.

Kathy456 wrote:

Hi, When I looked up the word "comparable" in the Longman's dictionary, I found that the first syllable should receive the primary stress. However, some people put stress on the second syllable. Could you guys, the native English speakers,  let me know which syllable do you put stress on in the word "comparable"? Thanks. Kathy

Hi guys, 

    Let me tell you something it's not always advisable to put the primary stress on the first syllable coz there are words like alternative -al-'t&r-n&-tiv  which is pronounced with the primary stress on the second syllable.  There are actually 8 stress pattern rules which exactly shows where the different stresses are to be applied in a word

Regards

Sundar