English 1: Comprehensive Refresher

1. Phonetics Cheat Sheet

Consonants

Sound	Rule/Tip	Examples
/s/	Unvoiced ending	Cats, Stockouts
/z/	Voiced ending	Dogs, Stakeholders, Xerox
/ɪz/	Sibilant ending	Buses, Watches
/ʃ/	”Sh”	Chef, Special, Ocean
/ʒ/	”Zh”	Vision, Measure

Vowels

Short: Book (/ʊ/), Cat (/æ/), Pit (/ɪ/).
Long: Truth (/u:/), Car (/ɑ:/), Sheep (/i:/).
Diphthongs: Buy (/aɪ/), Boy (/ɔɪ/).

Aspiration

/p, t, k/ are Aspirated (puff of air) at the start of a stressed syllable.
Non-Aspirated: After ‘s’ (e.g., Sport), or at end of word.

2. Grammar Rules

Articles

A: Before Consonant Sound (A car, A university).
An: Before Vowel Sound (An apple, An hour, An MP).
The: Specific/Definite.

Tenses

Present Perfect: Has/Have + V3. Use with Since, For. (Action continues to now).
Past Continuous: Was/Were + V-ing. Use for action interrupted by another.
Future Perfect: Will have + V3. Use with By.

Prepositions

Since: Starting point (Since 2010).
For: Duration (For 10 years).
In: Enclosed space/Long time (In London, In 2024).
On: Surface/Day (On the table, On Monday).
At: Specific point (At 5pm, At home).

3. Vocabulary Bank

Pairs & Confusions

Amateur (Novice) vs Expert.
Laudable (Good) vs Blameworthy.
Accustomed (Usual) vs Unusual.
Homicide (Killing) vs Suicide (Self-killing).

Phrasal Verbs

Run out of: Have none left.
Look forward to: Eagerly wait.
Stand out: Be noticeable.
Call off: Cancel.
Put off: Postpone.

4. Stress Patterns

Noun: Stress 1st Syllable (PRO-duce, RE-cord).
Verb: Stress 2nd Syllable (Pro-DUCE, Re-CORD).
Compound Nouns: Stress 1st word (GREENhouse).

5. Telephone Etiquette

Pick up: Answer.
Hang up: End call.
Hang on: Wait.
Speak up: Louder.
Jarring: Unpleasant noise.