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 often”
- actinic adjectiveRelated to radiation; used most often in reference to light, especially in the ultraviolet range.
- angélique noun, proper nounA plucked bowl lute with two necks and most often sixteen strings, played in the manner of a harp, and popular in Baroque Europe.
- apnea noun(pathology) The cessation of breathing, most often in reference to transient instances thereof during sleep.
- autoecious adjectiveOf a fungus, most often a rust: completing its life cycle on one host.
- back adjective, adverb, noun, verb, proper nounAt or near the rear.
- bbl noun(especially in the 20th and 21st centuries, most often) Volumes of crude oil pumped, stored, or sold (in bulk).
- biomedicine nounThe application of biology and physiology to clinical medicine.
- blood sausage nounA cooked sausage made out of meat (most often pork), blood and various other regional ingredients.
- bookplate noun, verbA printed piece of paper pasted on one of the pages of a book, most often on the inside front cover, showing ownership and thus deterring t…
- bow noun, verb, proper noun(archery) A weapon made of a curved piece of wood or other flexible material whose ends are connected by a string, used for shooting arrows.
- bubble chamber nounA vessel filled with a superheated transparent liquid (most often liquid hydrogen) used to detect electrically charged particles moving thr…
- bullshit noun, adjective, verb, interjection(vulgar, literally) Feces produced by a bull.
- bummer noun, interjection(obsolete, historical) A forager, especially in Sherman's March to the Sea of November to December 1864.
- census noun, verbAn official count or enumeration of members of a population (not necessarily human), usually residents or citizens in a particular region, …
- cliché noun, adjective, verb(rhetoric) Something, most often a phrase or expression, that is overused or used outside its original context, so that its original impact…
- cloudiness nounOf the sky, weather, etc.: the state of being cloudy.
- commissary nounA store primarily serving persons in an institution, most often soldiers or prisoners.
- compression fracture noun(pathology) Any fracture of a bone (most often a load-bearing bone such as a vertebra) caused by compression
- crenellation noun(countable, uncountable) A pattern along the top of a parapet (fortified wall), most often in the form of multiple, regular, rectangular sp…
- cutter noun, proper nounA person or device that cuts (in various senses).
- defoliate verb, adjective(transitive) To remove foliage from (one or more plants), most often with a chemical agent.
- diuresis noun(biology, medicine) Excessive production of urine; polyuria.
- doctrine noun(countable) A belief or tenet, especially about philosophical or theological matters.
- double indemnity noun(law) A clause in an insurance policy in which the insurance company agrees to pay out double the normal coverage in certain specified circ…
- entresol nounA mezzanine; an intermediate floor in a building, typically resembling a balcony; most often, the floor immediately above the ground floor …
- epideictic adjectiveOf or pertaining to rhetoric of ceremony, declamation, and demonstration, most often the rhetoric of funerals and other formal events. One …
- ester noun, proper noun(organic chemistry) A compound most often formed by the condensation of an alcohol and an acid, with elimination of water, which contains t…
- Fifth Amendment proper nounThe fifth amendment to the United States Constitution, which covers several rights, but is used most often quoted regarding the right again…
- flattop noun(US) A short haircut in which the hair is brushed straight up then cut flat across the top.
- front noun, adjective, verb, interjectionThe foremost side of something or the end that faces the direction it normally moves.
- gib noun, verb, proper nounA castrated male cat or ferret.
- girth noun, verbA band passed under the belly of an animal, which holds a saddle or a harness saddle in place.
- glass noun, verb, proper noun(usually uncountable) An amorphous solid, often transparent substance, usually made by melting silica sand with various additives (for most…
- groupie nounA fan, especially a young female fan of a male singer or rock group, who seeks intimacy (most often physical, sometimes emotional) with a c…
- habitus noun(zoology) Habitude; mode of life; bearing.
- handstand noun, verb(gymnastics) The act of standing on one's hands, most often in an inverted way.
- haunt verb, noun(transitive) To inhabit or to visit frequently (most often used in reference to ghosts).
- hind adjective, noun, proper nounLocated at the rear (most often said of animals' body parts).
- host noun, verbOne which receives or entertains a guest, socially, commercially, or officially.
- howdah nounA seat, usually with a canopy, carried on the back of an elephant or camel.