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 “the D”
- the devil adverb, proper noun(idiomatic) Used to add emphasis to a question or statement.
- by the day prepositional phraseDaily.
- on the dot prepositional phrase(idiomatic) Exactly; precisely, especially of a time of day.
- hit the deck verb(informal) To drop to a lying or other low position, especially quickly.
- hit the dirt verb(slang) To drop suddenly to the ground.
- dish the dirt verb(idiomatic, informal) To tell salacious gossip.
- do the dishes verb(intransitive) To wash up dirty crockery (plates and dishes) and cutlery (knives, forks, and spoons).
- go to the dogs verb(informal, idiomatic) To decline or deteriorate shockingly.
- like the devil prepositional phrase(colloquial) With great speed or fury.
- hair of the dog noun(idiomatic) An alcoholic drink, particularly when taken the morning after to cure a hangover.
- order of the day nounThe business to be done by a body (such as a legislature) on a particular day; an agenda.
- Bel and the Dragon proper noun(biblical) A deuterocanonical, apocryphal book of the Bible.
- speak of the devil phrase(idiomatic, humorous) An expression sometimes used when a person mentioned in the current conversation happens to arrive on the scene.
- naked as the day one was born phraseCompletely naked.