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 “leh”
- lehar nounHungarian composer of light operas (1870-1948)
- alehoof nounground-ivy (Glechoma hederacea)
- alehouse nounA business, such as an inn or tavern, where ale is sold; (loosely) any beerhouse.
- molehill noun, verbA small mound of earth created by a mole's burrowing underneath the surface of the ground.
- nargileh nounAlternative form of narghile.
- addlehead noun(colloquial) A foolish or dull-witted person.
- Bethlehem proper noun, nounA city in the West Bank, Palestine, believed to be the birthplace of Jesus.
- tabbouleh nounA Levantine salad or meze generally consisting of bulgur wheat, chopped tomatoes, parsley, olive oil, and lemon juice.
- bufflehead nounA duck in the goldeneye genus, Bucephala albeola.
- fiddlehead nounThe scroll-shaped decoration at the tip of a fiddle.
- turtlehead nounA white turtlehead, an American perennial herb (Chelone glabra) with white flowers.
- knucklehead noun(slang, derogatory) An idiot; a stupid or inept person.
- doubleheader nounAlternative form of double-header.
- muddleheaded adjectiveAlternative form of muddle-headed.
- stranglehold noun, verbA grip or control so strong as to stifle or cut off.
- tchotchkeleh noun(Yiddish) an attractive, unconventional woman
- throttlehold nounA stranglehold.
- wholehearted adjectiveShowing enthusiastic and unconditional commitment; having no reservations.
- wholeheartedly adverbIn a wholehearted (“showing enthusiastic and unconditional commitment”) manner; without reserve; enthusiastically, unreservedly.
- bethlehem-judah nouna small town near Jerusalem on the West Bank of the Jordan River; early home of David and regarded as the place where Jesus was born
- wholeheartedness nounthe condition of being wholehearted
- star-of-Bethlehem nounAny of the genus Ornithogalum of perennial plants mostly native to southern Europe and southern Africa, with clusters of typically white st…