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

elective

/ɪˈlɛktɪv/ adjective, noun

Forms electives

  1. adjective Of, or pertaining to voting or elections; involving a choice between options.
  2. adjective Open to choice; freely chosen; (also, usually) unnecessary; minor. “After accounting for all of my required courses, there is hardly any room in my schedule for any elective ones.”
  3. adjective (US health care system, technical) Scheduled and nonemergent (regardless of whether necessary or unnecessary and whether minor or serious). “It was very confusing hearing my cancer surgery being classified as "elective surgery". Am I "electing" to live rather than die?”
  4. noun Something that is an option or may be freely chosen, especially a course of study. “I still need to decide which electives to take along with my compulsory courses next semester.”

Synonyms

electoral discretionary optional voluntary elective course elected

Antonyms

appointive hereditary compulsory mandatory obligatory required involuntary emergent unscheduled

Etymology

Cf. F. électif.

Webster’s 1913

  1. adjective Exerting the power of choice; selecting; as, an elective act.
  2. adjective Pertaining to, or consisting in, choice, or right of choosing; electoral.
  3. noun In an American college, an optional study or course of study.

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