NTCs super mini english dictionary

Useful Spelling Rules For the past tense and the past participle: ■ Add -ed to the bare verb. If the bare verb ends in y preceded by a consonant, change y to i before adding -ed. If the bare verb ends in e, just add -d. walk > walked like > liked judge > judged try > tried carry > carried measure > measured For the present participle: ■ Add -ing to the bare verb. If the bare verb ends in a single e preceded either by a consonant or by u, drop the e before adding -ing. If the bare verb ends in ie, change ie to y before adding -ing. judge > judging take > taking ask > asking carry > carrying pay > paying pursue > pursuing hoe > hoeing see > seeing go > going lie > lying x Useful Spelling Rules Doubling of consonants in participles and past-tense forms: ■ When -ed or -ing is added to a word that ends in a consonant (other than h, w, x, or y) preceded by a single vowel, and the final syllable is stressed, then the consonant is normally doubled. Thus commit and control, which are accented on the last syllable, become committed and controlling, but limit and cancel, which are accented on the first syllable, become limited and canceling. Similarly, stop becomes stopping, but look, in which the consonant is preceded by two vowels, becomes looking. Within the dictionary, forms that do not follow these doubling rules are noted in individual entries. The most typical exceptions to the doubling rules are words with a final c that becomes ck rather than doubling (e.g., picnicking), verbs that are compounds, and verbs with closely related noun senses or more than one pronunciation. Outside the dictionary, learners will encounter other exceptions. Variation also occurs, because sometimes another option is correct, although less familiar in American English than the option given here. xi Useful Spelling Rules Regular Noun Plurals To form the plural of a regular noun: ■ If the singular form ends in s, z, x, ch, or sh, add -es. kiss > kisses box > boxes match > matches dish > dishes bus > buses ■ If the singular form ends in y preceded by a consonant, change y to ie and then add -s. baby > babies library > libraries university > universities butterfly > butterflies ■ For nouns ending in o, the regular plural form may be formed by adding -es or by adding -s. For some words, both spellings are possible. In this dictionary, each entry for a noun ending in o specifies the correct plural form or forms for that word. radio > radios potato > potatoes tornado > tornados or tornadoes xii Useful Spelling Rules ■ For all other regular nouns, add -s to the singular form to make the plural. table > tables boy > boys television > televisions valley > valleys An Important Note on the English Plural The English plural makes English very difficult for adults to learn. Many English nouns cannot be made plural, unlike their counterparts in other languages. Nothing sounds more “non-English” than advice, information, or baggage with the plural s on the end. Among the American English nouns in this dictionary, there are many that the learner should not attempt to make plural—ever! In addition, many of the nouns that can be followed by the plural s seem to be plural but really refer to kinds or types of the noun in question. For example, when the word margarine has an s on the end, it refers to different kinds, types, or varieties of margarine. margarine ["mar dZ@ rIn] n. a food made from animal or vegetable fats, used in place of butter; a spread for bread. (Pl only for types and instances.) Many American English nouns can take the plural s while only referring to different kinds, types, instances, or varieties of the noun. xiii Pronunciation The symbols of the International Phonetic Alphabet are used to show the pronunciation of the words in this dictionary. The speech represented here is that of educated people, but it is not formal or overly precise. It is more representative of the West and the middle of the country than of the East, South, or upper Midwest. Pronunciation of American English is variable in different regions of the country, but most native speakers of American English can understand one another quite well. The goal of the pronunciation scheme is to provide the student with one acceptable model of pronunciation for each entry. Where the numbered senses of an entry are all pronounced the same way, the phonetic representation follows the main entry word. In entries where even one of the numbered senses is pronounced differently from the rest, all the senses are provided with a phonetic representation. Sounds represented here as [or] are often pronounced as [Or] in some parts of the East. Similarly, the sequence [Er] is often pronounced [Ar] in parts of the East. One heavy stress is marked for most words. The dictionary user should expect to hear variation in the pronunciation of most of the words listed in this or any dictionary, but should remain confident that the model provided here is understood and accepted in all parts of the country. The chart on the next page shows the symbols used here and what they correspond to in some simple English words. xiv Copyright 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, I nc. Click Here for Terms of Use. Pronunciation { [ ] { [ɑυ] { [ɑ] { [b] { [d] { [ð] { [d ] { [e] { [ε] { [ə] { [ɑ] stop top sat track cow now bite my beet bubble dead body that those jail judge date sail get set above around { [ ] { [f] { [ ] { [h] { [i] { [] { [j] { [k] { [l] { [m] { [ ] nut shut bird turtle feel if get frog hat who feet leak bit hiss yellow you can keep lawn yellow family slam { [ŋ] { [o] { [o] { [ɔ] { [p] { [r] { [s] { [ʃ] { [t] { [tʃ] { [n] new funny bring thing coat wrote spoil boy caught yawn tip pat rat berry sun fast fish sure { [u] { [υ] { [v] { [w] { [ ] { [z] { [ ] { [] { [θ] thin faith food blue put look save van well wind wheel while fuzzy zoo pleasure treasure water ho tel top pot cheese pitcher xv