| IPA | one symbol for each sound, written between slashes | book /bʊk/ |
| Spelling and sound | spelling and sound often differ: photo has no /p/ and no /h/ | photo /ˈfəʊtəʊ/ |
| ː / ˈ | ː makes a vowel long; ˈ comes before the stressed syllable | food /fuːd/ · teacher /ˈtiːtʃə/ |
| Consonant symbols | some symbols differ from the spelling: ch → /tʃ/, j → /dʒ/, y → /j/ | chair / job / yes |
| A1Stress in two syllables | most nouns and adjectives: first syllable; many verbs: second | ˈteacher / beˈgin |
| A1-tion / -sion / -ic | stress the syllable before the ending | inforˈmation / fanˈtastic |
| A1Weak vowel | unstressed vowels are often the weak /ə/ | about /əˈbaʊt/ |
| A1US | /ɒ/ becomes /ɑː/, /əʊ/ becomes /oʊ/, and /r/ is pronounced after vowels | hot /hɑːt/ · car /kɑːr/ |
| A1Trap | short /ɪ/ and long /iː/ make different words | ship /ʃɪp/ · sheep /ʃiːp/ |
| A1Trap | th is /θ/ or /ð/ | think /θɪŋk/ · this /ðɪs/ |