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

tête-à-tête

/ˌtɛt.əˈtɛt/ noun, adverb

Forms tête-à-têtes tête à tête

  1. noun A face-to-face meeting, or private conversation between two people, usually in an intimate setting; a head-to-head.
  2. noun (furniture) A bench or sofa that allows two people to talk face-to-face, especially one that is S-shaped.
  3. noun A variety of early flowering, fragrant daffodil.
  4. adverb In private, between two people; head-to-head.

Synonyms

head-to-head confidante conversation bench courting bench kissing bench love seat vis-à-vis loveseat

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French tête-à-tête (“head-to-head”).

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun Private conversation; familiar interview or conference of two persons.
  2. noun A short sofa intended to accomodate two persons.
  3. adjective Private; confidential; familiar.
  4. adverb Face to face; privately or confidentially; familiarly. Prior.

Etymology [F., head to head. See Tester a covering, Test a cupel.]

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