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 “handwrit”
- handwrite verbTo write something manually, normally used to emphasise that it is not being typed.
- handwriting nounThe act or process of writing done with the hand, rather than typed or word-processed.
- handwritten adjectiveWritten with a person's hand, as opposed to typed.
- autograph noun, adjective, verbA person’s own handwriting, especially the signature of a famous or admired person.
- backhand noun, verb, adjective(tennis and other, racquet sports) A stroke made across the chest from the off-hand side to the racquet hand side; a stroke during which th…
- bibliotics nounThe study of documents and handwriting in order to verify authorship or authenticity.
- block letter nounA letter written in clear, unjoined handwriting.
- bulla noun, proper noun(biology, medicine) A blister, vesicle, or other thin-walled cavity or lesion, as:
- cacography nounBad spelling or punctuation, especially unintuitive spellings considered as a feature of a whole language or dialect.
- character noun, verb(countable) A being involved in the action of a story; a persona.
- chicken scratch nounChicken feed consisting of random mixed grains such as corn, wheat, barley, sorghum and milling by-products.
- chirography nounSynonym of handwriting or penmanship, one's personal skill at writing.
- confirm verb, adverbTo strengthen; to make firm or resolute.
- copperplate noun, verbA copper plate, either etched or engraved, to make a recessed pattern.
- copybook nounA student's exercise book containing samples of good handwriting to be copied.
- crabbed adjectiveBad-tempered or cantankerous.
- cursive adjective, nounRunning; flowing.
- exemplar noun, adjectiveSomething fit to be imitated; an ideal, a worthy model or role model: a desirable example.
- fair copy nounA handwritten document that has been written neatly and correctly without scratch-outs and revisions.
- fairly adverb(manner) In a fair manner; fair; not biased or skewed or favouring a certain party
- feint noun, verb, adjective(often military) A movement made to confuse an opponent; a dummy.
- fist noun, verbA hand with the fingers clenched or curled inward.
- flip chart nounA large pad, usually supported on a stand, used for (typically handwritten) presentations.
- fluent adjective, nounThat flows; flowing, liquid.
- fusspot noun, verb(informal) A person who makes a fuss, particularly about trivial things.
- graph noun, verb(applied mathematics, statistics) A data chart (graphical representation of data) intended to illustrate the relationship between a set (or…
- graphology noun(uncountable) The study of handwriting, especially as a means of analyzing a person's character.
- hieratic adjective, nounOf or pertaining to priests or other religious authorities, especially pharaonic priests of Ancient Egypt.
- hieroglyph noun, verbAn element (individual sign or glyph) of a hieroglyphic writing system.
- hieroglyphic noun, adjective(chiefly in the plural) A writing system of ancient Egypt, Minoans, Maya and other civilizations, using pictorial symbols to represent indi…
- holograph noun, verb, adjective(law, textual criticism) A handwritten document that is solely the work of the person whose signature it bears, especially a letter, deed, …
- holographic adjectiveIn the form of a hologram or holograph.
- humanist noun, adjectiveA scholar of one of the subjects in the humanities.
- illegibility nounThe characteristic or quality of being illegible; the quality of being difficult or impossible to read.
- illegible adjectiveNot clear enough to be read; unreadable; not legible or decipherable.
- indecipherable adjectiveNot decipherable; impossible to decode, read, understand or comprehend.
- italic adjective, noun, proper noun(typography, of a typeface or font) Designed to resemble a handwriting style developed in Italy in the 16th century.
- left-slanting adjective(of handwriting) having the letters slanting backward
- legible adjectiveClear enough to be read; readable, particularly of handwriting.
- lined adjectiveHaving a lining, an inner layer or covering.
- longhand noun, adverbThe written characters used in the common method of writing; opposed to shorthand, or typing or printing; handwriting.
- make sense verb(intransitive, idiomatic) To be sensible, coherent, reasonable.
- manuscript adjective, nounHandwritten, or by extension manually typewritten, as opposed to being mechanically reproduced.