Klryz
Pronunciation guide: IPA symbols, stress and word endings

Vowels

iːseeɪsite / ɛbedæcat
ɑːfatherɒhot (UK)ɔːlawʊput
uːtooʌcupɜːbirdəabout
eɪdayaɪmyɔɪboyaʊnow
əʊ / oʊgo (UK / US)ɪəneareəhairʊətour

Consonants that look unusual

θthinðthisʃsheʒmeasure
tʃchurchdʒjudgeŋsingjyes

p b t d k g f v s z h m n l r w sound as in ordinary English spelling.

Marks

  • ˈ main stress, before the stressed syllable: /ˈwɔːtə/ water · ˌ lighter (secondary) stress: /ˌʌndəˈstænd/ understand
  • ː a long vowel · (r) an r said only in accents that pronounce it (most American, Scottish, Irish)

Common word endings

  • -s / -es (plurals; he/she form of verbs): /s/ after voiceless sounds (cats), /z/ after voiced (dogs), /ɪz/ after s, z, sh, ch, j sounds (buses, watches). Spelling: -es after s, x, z, ch, sh; consonant + y → -ies (city → cities).
  • -ed (past): /t/ after voiceless sounds (walked), /d/ after voiced (played), /ɪd/ after t or d (wanted). Spelling: love → loved, stop → stopped, carry → carried.
  • -ing: make → making, run → running, see → seeing.
  • Irregular: go, went, gone · be, was, been · see, saw, seen · man → men · child → children · mouse → mice.
  • Older (King James) forms: -eth = -s (he loveth = he loves) · -est with “thou” (thou lovest) · spake = spoke.

English Dictionary · 107,383 entries · Sources & licences

commonplace

UK /ˈkɒmənˌpleɪs/ · US /ˈkɑmənˌpleɪs/ adjective, noun, verb

Forms commonplaces commonplacing commonplaced common place common-place

  1. adjective Ordinary; not having any remarkable characteristics.
  2. noun A platitude or cliché.
  3. noun Something that is ordinary; something commonly done or occurring.
  4. noun A memorandum; something to be frequently consulted or referred to.
  5. noun A commonplace book.
  6. verb (transitive) To make a commonplace book.
  7. verb (transitive) To enter in a commonplace book, or to reduce to general heads.
  8. verb (obsolete, intransitive) To utter commonplaces; to indulge in platitudes.

Synonyms

routine undistinguished unexceptional quotidian banal bathetic bromidic cheesy stock clichéd corny dog-eared hackneyed hoary overdone overused overworked pat played out shopworn platitude cliche banality bromide humdrum prosaic unglamorous unglamourous old-hat threadbare

Antonyms

distinguished inimitable unique

Etymology

A calque of Latin locus commūnis, referring to a generally applicable literary passage, itself a calque of Ancient Greek κοινὸς τόπος (koinòs tópos).

Webster’s 1913

  1. adjective Common; ordinary; trite; as, a commonplace person, or observation.
  2. noun An idea or expression wanting originality or interest; a trite or customary remark; a platitude.
  3. noun A memorandum; something to be frequently consulted or referred to. Whatever, in my reading, occurs concerning this our fellow creature, I do never fail to set it down by way of commonplace. Swift.
  4. verb To enter in a commonplace book, or to reduce to general heads.

Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “commonplace”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details