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 “whenever”
- accent mark noun(linguistics, strictly) A diacritical mark or character used in writing to indicate the place of stress (spoken accent), or to indicate the…
- add verb, noun(transitive) To join or unite (e.g. one thing to another, or as several particulars) so as to increase the number, augment the quantity, or…
- ball up verb(transitive) To crush or form into a ball shape.
- bed-hop verb(informal, intransitive) To be promiscuous; to have multiple sexual partners.
- behave verb(reflexive) To conduct (oneself) well, or in a given way; to conform.
- blanket noun, adjective, verbA heavy, loosely woven fabric, usually large and woollen, used for warmth while sleeping or resting.
- bray verb, noun, proper noun(intransitive) Of an animal (now chiefly of animals related to the ass or donkey, and the camel): to make its cry.
- breakdown noun(countable) A failure, particularly one which is mechanical in nature.
- coffee noun, adjective, verb, proper noun(uncountable) A beverage made by infusing the beans of the coffee plant in hot water.
- completeness nounThe state or condition of being complete.
- demon noun, proper nounAn evil being resident in or working for Hell; a devil.
- drool verb, noun(ambitransitive) To secrete saliva, especially in anticipation of food.
- energize verb(transitive) To invigorate; to make energetic.
- exasperate verb, adjective(transitive) To tax the patience of; irk, frustrate, vex, provoke, annoy; to make angry.
- fall into verb(transitive, literally) To go into something by falling.
- fermion noun(particle physics, Standard Model) Any elementary or composite particle that has half-integer spin and thus obeys Fermi–Dirac statistics an…
- fondler nounOne who fondles.
- frisson nounA sudden surge of excitement.
- homeless adjective, nounLacking a permanent place of residence.
- humour noun, verb(chiefly uncountable) The quality of being amusing, comical, funny.
- if conjunction, nounSupposing that, assuming that, in the circumstances that; suppositive used to introduce a condition that may be (or prove to be) either tru…
- inkwell nounA container for ink, designed and usually positioned so that a person may conveniently dip a pen (such as a dip pen or quill pen) into it w…
- look to verbUsed other than figuratively or idiomatically: see look, to.
- nude adjective, noun(not comparable) Without clothing or other covering of the skin; without clothing on the genitals or female nipples.
- show up verb(intransitive) To appear, arrive, or attend, especially suddenly or erratically.
- soundness noun(uncountable) The state or quality of being sound.
- static adjective, nounUnchanging; that cannot or does not change.
- supernumerary noun, adjectiveA person who works in a group, association, or public office without forming part of the regular staff (the numerary).
- tantalus noun, proper nounA stork of the genus Mycteria (formerly Tantalus), especially the American wood stork, Mycteria americana.
- tomb noun, verb, proper nounA small building, or a room within one, for the remains of the dead, with walls, a roof, and (if it is to be used for more than one corpse)…
- valid adjectiveWell-grounded or justifiable, pertinent.
- whensoever adverbwhenever; at any time at all