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 “most important”
- abo noun, adjective, proper noun(Australia, offensive, ethnic slur, slang) An Aboriginal person.
- Amaterasu proper noun(Japanese mythology, Shinto) The Japanese sun goddess, and most important Shinto deity; she is the daughter of Izanagi and Izanami and the …
- basically adverbIn a fundamental, essential or basic manner.
- beat generation proper nounA group of countercultural American writers who came to prominence in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Their most important works are Jack K…
- bible noun, proper noun(by extension) A comprehensive manual that describes something, or a publication with a loyal readership; a foundational text.
- body noun, verb, proper noun(countable) The physical structure of a human or animal seen as one single organism.
- bottom line noun, adverb(countable, uncountable, business) The final balance; the amount of money or profit left after everything has been tallied.
- capital noun, adjective, interjection, proper noun(uncountable, business, finance, insurance, economics) Money and wealth: the means to acquire or produce goods and services, especially in …
- capital ship noun(nautical) Any of the most important types of warships, capable of projecting a fleet in being.
- centralize verbTo move things physically towards the centre; to consolidate or concentrate
- contour noun, verbAn outline, boundary or border, usually of curved shape.
- Core proper noun, noun, adjective, verb(Greek mythology) The birth name of Persephone/Proserpina, the queen of the Underworld/Hades, and goddess of the seasons and of vegetation.…
- country of origin noun(law) The country in which a person or thing is deemed to have originated for the purposes of laws and regulations.
- daddy noun, verb, adjective, proper noun(usually childish) Also used as a term of address: a father; one's father.
- dialectics noun(philosophy, uncountable) A systematic method of argument that attempts to resolve the contradictions in opposing views or ideas.
- epistemology noun(uncountable) The branch of philosophy dealing with the study of knowledge; the theory of knowledge, asking such questions as "What is know…
- extract noun, verbSomething that is extracted or drawn out.
- flagship noun, verb(nautical, military) The ship occupied by the fleet's commander (usually an admiral); it denotes this by flying his flag.
- focal adjective, nounBelonging to, concerning, or located at a focus (definite location).
- forehand noun, adjective, verb, proper noun(racket sports) A stroke in which the palm of the hand faces the direction of the stroke.
- foremost adjective, adverb, proper nounPositioned in front of (all) others in space, most forward.
- fox grape nounThe native eastern North American grape, Vitis labrusca, with many cultivars, of which the Concord grape is the most important.
- foxtail millet nounA plant of the second-most widely planted species of millet (Setaria italica), which is the most important species of millet in East Asia.
- front noun, adjective, verb, interjectionThe foremost side of something or the end that faces the direction it normally moves.
- general adjective, noun, verb, adverbIncluding or involving every part or member of a given or implied entity, whole, etc.; common to all, universal.
- godspeed interjection, noun(literary) Used, particularly at a moment of departure, to convey a wish that an individual’s forthcoming actions yield favorable outcomes;…
- gut noun, verb, adjective, proper nounThe alimentary canal, especially the intestine.
- hub noun, proper nounThe central part, usually cylindrical, of a wheel; the nave.
- idealization nounThe act or process of idealizing.
- kingpin noun(automotive) The axis around which steered wheels pivot; a bolt that holds the axis in place.
- main adjective, adverb, verb, noun, proper nounOf chief or leading importance; prime, principal.
- mainspring noun(horology) The principal spring of a clockwork mechanism, which drives it by uncoiling.
- militarism nounAn ideology which claims that the military is the foundation of a society's security, and thereby its most important aspect.
- most adverb, adjective, pronoun, nounForms the superlative of many adjectives.
- most-valuable adjectivedesignating the player judged to be the most important to the sport
- Mount Rushmore proper noun, nounA famous mountain in the Black Hills of South Dakota with the heads of four US presidents carved into it.
- narcolepsy noun(pathology) A disorder characterized by sudden and uncontrollable attacks of deep sleep, often brief, sometimes accompanied by paralysis an…
- number noun, verbQuantity of countable things.
- number one adjective, noun, proper noun(idiomatic) First; foremost; best, often used after its headword.
- Pascha noun, adjectivePassover (biblical, Israelite, Jewish, or Christian Passover; this term also includes Quartodeciman Passover, observed on Nisan 14, especia…