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

abreast

/əˈbɹɛst/ adverb, adjective, preposition

  1. adverb Side by side and facing forward.
  2. adverb (figurative) Alongside; parallel to.
  3. adverb Informed, well-informed, familiar, acquainted.
  4. adverb Followed by of or with: up to a certain level or line; equally advanced. “She believes it is important to keep abreast of new scientific developments.”
  5. adverb (Scotland) Breast high (of an advancing wave). “The west wind blew a tempest, and, according to the common expression, brought in the water [of the Solway] three foot abreast.”
  6. adverb (nautical) Side by side; also, opposite; on a line with the vessel's beam.
  7. adverb (obsolete) At the same time; simultaneously.
  8. adjective Side by side, facing forward.
  9. adjective Up to a certain level or line; equally advanced “to keep abreast of [or with] the present state of science”
  10. adjective (nautical) Side by side; also, opposite; over against; on a line with the vessel's beam.
  11. preposition Abreast of; alongside. “This ship sank abreast the island.”

Synonyms

apprised informed up to date up-to-date au courant au fait up on

Etymology

From Middle English abrest. By surface analysis, a- (“on, at”) + breast, meaning “breasts (chests) in line, side-by-side and exactly equally advanced”; roughly “breast-by-breast”.

Webster’s 1913

  1. adverb Side by side, with breasts in a line; as, "Two men could hardly walk abreast." Macaulay.
  2. adverb Side by side; also, opposite; over against; on a line with the vessel's beam; --with of.

Etymology [Pref. a- + breast.]

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