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 “hit on”
- alley noun, proper nounA narrow street or passageway, especially one through the middle of a block giving access to the rear of lots of buildings.
- crown noun, adjective, verb, proper noun(clothing, monarchy) A royal, imperial or princely headdress; a diadem.
- cruise noun, verb, proper nounA sea or lake voyage, especially one taken for pleasure.
- green light nounA traffic light in its green state (indicating that vehicles may proceed).
- plumb noun, adjective, adverb, verb, proper nounA little mass of lead, or the like, attached to a line, and used by builders, etc., to indicate a vertical direction.
- scam noun, verbA fraudulent or dishonest deal. A swindle.
- scone noun, verb, proper nounA small, rich, pastry or quick bread, sometimes baked on a griddle.
- semiconscious adjectiveNeither fully conscious nor unconscious, partially aware but confused or distracted.
- tackle noun, verbA device for grasping an object and an attached means of moving it, as a rope and hook.
- two-baser nouna base hit on which the batter stops safely at second base
- wolf noun, verb, proper noun(countable) Canis lupus; the largest wild member of the canine subfamily.