Pronunciation guide: IPA symbols, stress and word endings
Vowels
| iː | see | ɪ | sit | e / ɛ | bed | æ | cat |
| ɑː | father | ɒ | hot (UK) | ɔː | law | ʊ | put |
| uː | too | ʌ | cup | ɜː | bird | ə | about |
| eɪ | day | aɪ | my | ɔɪ | boy | aʊ | now |
| əʊ / oʊ | go (UK / US) | ɪə | near | eə | hair | ʊə | tour |
Consonants that look unusual
| 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.
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
Results for “-man”
- G-man noun(historical) A US government agent fighting organized crime in the interwar years.
- T-man noun(US, informal) Abbreviation of treasury man: An agent of the treasury department.
- he-man nounA strong or virile man.
- ape-man nounAlternative form of apeman.
- one-man adjectiveInvolving, done, or operated by only one person.
- yes-man nounAlternative spelling of yes man.
- gell-mann nounUnited States physicist noted for his studies of subatomic particles (born in 1929)
- macho-man nouna man who is virile and sexually active
- barrow-man nouna hawker of fruit and vegetables from a barrow
- man-to-man adjective, adverbdirect, forthright, and honest
- biu-mandara nouna group of Chadic languages spoken in the border area between Cameroon and Nigeria south of Lake Chad
- life-of-man noununarmed woody rhizomatous perennial plant distinguished from wild sarsaparilla by more aromatic roots and panicled umbels; southeastern Nor…
- two-man saw nounA large manual saw, often more than ten feet in length, designed to be worked by two men, one on each end.
- bad-mannered adjectiveHaving bad manners; impolite.
- ill-mannered adjectiveHaving bad manners; impolite.
- mild-mannered adjectiveCalm, gentle, moderate and unexcitable in attitude or disposition.
- mingle-mangle noun, verbA collection containing a variety of miscellaneous things.
- well-mannered adjectiveHaving good manners; polite, courteous, and socially correct; conforming to standards of good behaviour.
- dead-man's-fingers nounthe fruiting bodies of the fungi of the genus Xylaria
- old-man-of-the-woods nounedible mild-tasting mushroom found in coniferous woodlands of eastern North America