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

construe

/kənˈstɹuː/ noun, verb

Forms construes construing construed conster

  1. noun A translation.
  2. noun An interpretation.
  3. verb (transitive) To understand (something) as meaning, to take to mean.
  4. verb (transitive) To interpret (something) to another or publicly, explain the meaning of (something, usually language).
  5. verb (grammar, transitive) To analyze the grammatical structure of a clause or sentence; to parse.
  6. verb (grammar, ergative) To admit of grammatical analysis.
  7. verb (transitive) To translate.
  8. verb To infer.
  9. verb (obsolete) To explain.

Synonyms

interpret see

Etymology

From Middle English construen, from Late Latin construo, construere (“to relate grammatically”), from Latin construo (“pile together”); doublet of construct.

Webster’s 1913

  1. verb To apply the rules of syntax to (a sentence or clause) so as to exhibit the structure, arrangement, or connection of, or to discover the sense; to explain the construction of; to interpret; to translate.
  2. verb To put a construction upon; to explain the sense or intention of; to interpret; to understand.

Etymology [L. construere: cf. F. construire. See Construct.]

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