-ATE ending words
Words ending in -ate use a full ayt when they are verbs and a reduced ut when they are nouns or adjectives. So you sep-uh-RATE the papers, but they are sep-uh-RIT. The spelling gives no clue, only the grammar does.
Accent
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The words
More lists like this
Comfortable, incredible, vegetable: both endings reduce to the same weak sound. Hear it.
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Adult, garage, ballet, cafe: the stressed syllable moves between accents. Hear where it lands.
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Necessary, laboratory, secretary: Americans keep a full syllable that the British swallow.
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Walked, played, wanted: -ed has three sounds, T, D and ID. Learn which verb takes which.
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Cats, dogs, buses: the plural S has three sounds. Hear when it is S, Z or IZ.
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Nation, education, question: the -tion ending and where the stress always falls. Hear the rule.
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To read the rules behind these words, see the pronunciation guides — including silent letters, word stress and American vs British. Or hear each accent on its own page: American, British, Australian.