English phonetics: sounds, symbols and spelling
IPA symbols represent speech sounds more directly than ordinary English spelling. This site uses a bounded General American teaching chart.
Use the pattern in context
Compare a word’s spelling with its IPA and a fixed recording. One written letter can represent different sounds, and several letters can represent one sound: sh commonly represents /ʃ/. Square brackets can show detailed pronunciation, while slashes commonly mark a broader sound-system transcription. The chart uses a simplified teaching convention and explains accent-sensitive choices.
Examples to compare
- Spelling group: sh in ship corresponds to /ʃ/.
- Stress: ˈ appears before a stressed syllable in IPA.
- Lookup: an unknown word stays unknown in the small annotator.
Limits and useful distinctions
An IPA transcription is not a promise that every speaker uses one identical realization. Rhotic General American retains r in places where many British accents do not. The chart’s inventory, vowel grouping and length marks are teaching conventions, not a universal count for every English accent.
Check your understanding
Does one written letter always correspond to one English sound?
Reveal the answer and reason
No. English spelling and speech do not have a one-to-one relationship.
Use a word’s reviewed transcription and recording together instead of treating spelling as a complete sound rule. Read the guide
Try a new example with the same purpose. Check that your version keeps the intended meaning and grammatical pattern.