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

fairy tale

UK /ˈfeəɹi ˌteɪl/ · US /ˈfɛɹi ˌteɪl/ noun

Forms fairy tales fairy-tale fairytale faerie tale

  1. noun A folktale or literary story featuring fairies or similar fantasy characters. “I used to love reading fairy tales when I was a child.”
  2. noun (uncountable) The literary genre of these stories.
  3. noun (figurative) A fabricated or misleading account meant to deceive, such as an exaggerated excuse. “He's telling us another fairy tale about how great the software will be.”
  4. noun (figurative) A delightful and ideal situation of a kind attained by very few. “I've been living in a fairy tale since I met Joe.”

Synonyms

fairytale fairy story cock-and-bull story song and dance

Etymology

Calque of French conte de fées, coined by French writer Madame d'Aulnoy in the late 17th century.

Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 — from the Wiktionary entry “fairy tale”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details