NUM
A number is a word such as three and hundred . Numbers such as one, two, three are used like determiners, e.g. three bears; like adjectives, e.g. the four horsemen; like pronouns, e.g. She has three cases and I have two; and like quantifiers, e.g. Six of the boys stayed behind . Numbers such as hundred, thousand, million always follow a determiner or another number, e.g. two hundred people .
ORD
An ordinal is a type of number. Ordinals are used like adjectives, e.g. He was the third victim; like pronouns, e.g. She took the first place and I took the second … the second of the two teams; like adverbs, e.g. The other team came first; and like determiners, e.g. Fourth place goes to Timmy .
PHRASAL VERB
A phrasal verb consists of a verb and one or more particles, e.g. look after, look back, look down on . Some phrasal verbs are linking verbs or passive verbs.
PHRASE
Phrases are groups of words which are used together with little variation and which have a meaning of their own.
PREDET
A predeterminer is used in a noun group before a, the, or another determiner.
PREFIX
A prefix is a letter or group of letters, such as un- or multi- , which is added to the beginning of a word in order to form another word. For example, the prefix un- is added to happy to form unhappy .
PREP
A preposition begins a prepositional phrase and is followed by a noun group or a present participle. Patterns for prepositions are shown in the dictionary only if they are restricted in some way.
PRON
Pronouns are used to refer to someone or something that has already been mentioned or whose identity is known.
QUANT
A quantifier comes before of and a noun group.
QUEST
A question word is a word that is used to begin a question, for example, a wh-word.
SUFFIX
A suffix is a letter or group of letters such as –ly or –ness , which is added to the end of a word in order to form a new word, usually of a different word class.
V-LINK
A link verb connects a subject and a complement. Link verbs most commonly occur in the patterns [V adj] and [V n]. Most link verbs do not occur in the passive voice.
V-PASSIVE
A passive verb occurs in the passive voice only. Some phrasal verbs are passive verbs.
Pronunciation
IPA symbols
Vowel
Sounds
ɑː
c
a
lm,
a
h
ɑːʳ
he
a
rt, f
a
r
æ
a
ct, m
a
ss
a
I
d
i
ve, cr
y
a
I
əʳ
f
i
re, t
y
re
aʊ
ou
t, d
ow
n
aʊəʳ
fl
ou
r, s
ou
r
e
m
e
t, l
e
nd, p
e
n
e
I
s
ay
, w
ei
ght
eəʳ
f
ai
r, c
a
re
I
f
i
t, w
i
n
iː
m
e
, s
ee
m
I
əʳ
n
ea
r, b
ea
rd
ɒ
l
o
t, sp
o
t
oʊ
n
o
te, c
oa
t
ɔː
cl
aw
, m
au
l
ɔʳ
m
o
re, c
o
rd
ɔ
I
b
oy
, j
oi
nt
ʊ
c
ou
ld, st
oo
d
uː
y
ou
,
u
se
ʊəʳ
l
u
re, p
u
re
ɜːʳ
t
u
rn, th
i
rd
ʌ
f
u
nd, m
u
st
ə
the first vowel in
a
bout
əʳ
the first vowel in
f
o
rgotten
i
the second vowel in
ver
y
u
the second vowel in
act
u
al
Consonant
Sounds
b
b
ed, ru
b
d
d
one, re
d
f
f
it, i
f
g
g
ood, do
g
h
h
at,
h
orse
y
y
ellow,
y
ou
k
k
ing, pi
ck
l
l
ip, bi
ll
ᵊl
hand
l
e, pane
l
m
m