Pronunciation guide: IPA symbols, stress and word endings

θ	thin	ð	this	ʃ	she	ʒ	measure
tʃ	church	dʒ	judge	ŋ	sing	j	yes

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

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)

-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.

firm up

verb

Forms firms up firming up firmed up

verb (transitive, idiomatic) To make (tentative plans) more definite. “Can we firm up plans for the barbecue Sunday?”
verb (intransitive, idiomatic, of tentative plans) To become more definite. “Let me know as soon as your plans firm up.”
verb (transitive) To make (muscles) more toned through physical exercise. “He hopes to firm up his biceps a bit before meeting the girls.”
verb (intransitive, of muscles) To become more toned through physical exercise. “After weeks of working out, his biceps finally began to firm up a bit.”
verb (intransitive) To become firmer in consistency. “Cook the omelet until the top has started to firm up.”

Sources: Wiktionary — from the Wiktionary entry “firm up”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details