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

head over heels

UK /ˌhɛd əʊ.və ˈhiːlz/ · US /ˌhɛd oʊ.vɚ ˈhilz/ adverb, adjective

  1. adverb Tumbling upside down; somersaulting. “She tripped and rolled head over heels down the hill.”
  2. adverb At top speed; frantically. “Hearing the noise in the dark, the children ran head over heels back home.”
  3. adverb (usually with in love) Hopelessly; madly; to distraction; deeply; utterly.
  4. adjective Hopelessly smitten; madly in love.

Synonyms

arse over tit ass over teakettle base over apex full tilt full throttle like mad head over ears heels over head topsy-turvy topsy-turvily in great confusion

Etymology

Attested from the 14th century onwards, originally as heels over head, which better rendered the notion of things being upside down (head over heels is the standard state of being).

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