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 “narra”
- narrate verb(transitive) To relate (a story or series of events) in speech or writing.
- narrator nounOne who narrates or tells stories.
- narration nounThe act of recounting or relating in order the particulars of some action, occurrence, or affair; a narrating.
- narrative adjective, nounTelling a story.
- Narragansett Bay proper nounA bay of Rhode Island and Massachusetts, United States.
- account noun, verb(accounting) A registry of pecuniary transactions; a written or printed statement of business dealings or debts and credits, and also of ot…
- anticlimax nounA failed or reverse climax, particularly:
- apocalypse noun, verb, proper nounA revealing, especially a prophecy of, or the unfolding of, supernatural events.
- ballad noun, verbA kind of narrative poem, adapted for recitation or singing; especially, a sentimental or romantic poem in short stanzas.
- ballade noun(music) Any of various genres of single-movement musical pieces having lyrical and narrative elements.
- campaign noun, verbA series of operations undertaken to achieve a set goal.
- caper noun, verbA playful leap or jump.
- catastrophe nounAny large and disastrous event of great significance.
- chorus noun, verb, proper nounA group of singers and dancers in a theatrical performance or religious festival who commented on the main performance in speech or song.
- cliffhanger noun(narratology) An ending or stopping point calculated to leave a story unresolved, in order to create suspense.
- climax noun, verb, adjective, proper noun(originally rhetoric) A rhetorical device in which a series is arranged in ascending order.
- comedy noun(countable, historical) a choric song of celebration or revel, especially in Ancient Greece
- comic book noun(comics) A book or magazine that uses sequences of drawings to narrate a story or a series of stories, primarily in a serialized form, usua…
- comic strip noun(comics) A series of drawings, in sequence, often but not necessarily depicting something funny or satirical in nature; more specifically, …
- concept album nounAn album of music where the content follows an overall theme or narrative.
- conscience nounThe ethical or moral sense of right and wrong, chiefly as it affects a person’s own behaviour and forms their attitude to their past action…
- contemporize verbTo bring up to date; often specifically to set a historical narrative in a modern context
- continuity noun, adjectiveLack of interruption or disconnection; the quality of being continuous in space or time.
- dénouement noun(narratology) The conclusion or resolution of a plot; unravelling.
- detail noun, verb(countable) A part small enough to escape casual notice.
- deus ex machina noun(narratology) Any resolution to a story that does not pay due regard to the story's internal logic and that is so unlikely that it challeng…
- dilate verb, adjective(transitive) To enlarge; to make bigger.
- diptych nounA writing tablet consisting of two leaves of rigid material connected by hinges and shutting together so as to protect the writing within.
- disillusion verb, noun(transitive) To free or deprive of illusion; to disenchant.
- doublet nounA pair of two similar or equal things; couple.
- embroider verbTo stitch a decorative design on fabric with needle and thread of various colours.
- epic noun, adjectiveAn extended narrative poem in elevated or dignified language, celebrating the feats of a deity, demigod (heroic epic), other legend or trad…
- epic poetry nounLengthy narrative poetry typically concerned with the interactions of extraordinary people with the gods or with supernatural forces.
- epical adjective, noun(now rare) Of or pertaining to epic literature; epic, grandiose.
- episode nounA discrete but connected event, situation, or period within a broader sequence, narrative, or life course.
- excursus nounA fuller treatment (in a separate section) of a particular part of the text of a book, especially a classic.
- exposition nounThe action of exposing something to something, such as skin to the sunlight.
- fable noun, verbA fictitious narrative intended to enforce some useful truth or precept, usually with animals, etc. as characters; an apologue. Prototypica…
- file noun, verb, proper nounA collection of papers collated and archived together.
- film noun, verbA thin layer of some substance; a pellicle; a membranous covering, causing opacity.
- finale nounThe grand end of something, especially of a show or piece of music.
- first person noun(grammar) Forms of pronouns or verbs used for the speaker or writer of the sentence in which they occur.
- flashback noun, verb(authorship) A dramatic device in which an earlier event is inserted into the normal chronological flow of a narrative.
- focalization noun(narratology) The perspective through which a narrative is presented.
- focalize verbTo focus, or to adjust a focus.