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

presto

UK /ˈpɹɛstəʊ/ · US /ˈpɹɛstoʊ/ adverb, interjection, noun, proper noun

Forms Prestos

  1. adverb (music) Very fast or quickly; a directive for the musician(s) to play in a very quick tempo.
  2. interjection Used by magicians when performing a trick; ta-da; voilà. “So I put my hand into the hat and presto! Out comes a rabbit!”
  3. noun (poker slang) A pair of fives as a starting hand in Texas hold 'em.
  4. proper noun A surname.

Synonyms

alakazam hocus-pocus abracadabra hey pass hey presto kazaam presto chango shablam shazam

Etymology

From Italian presto (“quickly”).

Webster’s 1913

  1. adverb Quickly; immediately; in haste; suddenly.
  2. adverb Quickly; rapidly; --a direction for a quick, lively movement or performance; quicker than allegro, or any rate of time except prestissimo.

Etymology [It. or Sp. presto quick, quickly. See Prest, a.]

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