'THE'

How do you pronounce that common word (article)?

 TWO PRONUNCIATIONS OF 'THE'

• There are two ways to pronounce "the." One pronunciation sounds like /ðə/ ("thuh," rhymes
with "duh") and the other sounds like /ði/ ("thee," rhymes with "free"). The pronunciation of
the word "the" depends on the first sound of the word that comes after it.

• When the word after "the" begins with a consonant sound, people usually use /ðə/. When the
word after "the" begins with a vowel sound, people usually use /ði/. Below are examples of
when to use each pronunciation.
 TWO PRONUNCIATIONS OF 'THE'

• In each of the below sentences, /ðə/ is usually used because the word after "the" begins with a consonant
sound:
• He liked the book very much.
• The kids enjoyed the play.
• Each of the six roses had bloomed.
• They were the first people to arrive at the party.
 
• In each of the below sentences, /ði/ is usually used because the word after "the" begins with a vowel
sound:
• She reached the end of Park Street and had to turn around.
• The indecision of the employees made work difficult.
• She just watched her favorite movie for the eighth time.
• He drew the apple in a very realistic way.
 THE ENGLISH "TH"

• The two letters t and h in combination (th) are very common in English. They represent one
of two different sounds:

• the voiced dental fricative /ð/ (as in this)

• the voiceless dental fricative /θ/ (as in thing)
• The sound /ð/ has the following features:
• Its manner of articulation is fricative. That means the sound is produced by letting air flow
through a narrow channel at the place of articulation.
• Its place of articulation is dental. That means the sound is articulated with the tip of the
tongue against the back of the upper teeth.
• Its phonation is voiced. That means the vocal cords vibrate during the articulation.
• Speak the voiced th /ð/ out loud several times, according to the features above: put the tip of
your tongue against the back of your upper teeth, produce a little air flow and let your vocal
cords vibrate. Listen to the audio file to hear how it is supposed to sound.
• Now practise the sound by pronouncing words that start with it: the, this, those, their, then.
Then listen to the audio file below.
• The second variation of th, the sound /θ/, has the following features:
• Its manner of articulation is also fricative. That means the sound is produced by letting air flow
through a narrow channel at the place of articulation. In comparison to the voiced th, the
voiceless th is pronounced by making more air flow.
• Its place of articulation is dental. However, in contrast to /ð/, the sound is pronounced with the
blade of the tongue resting against the lower part of the back of the upper teeth. The tip of the
tongue sticks out of the mouth slightly.
• Its phonation is voiceless. That means the sound is produced without vibrations of the vocal
cords.
• Now, speak the voiceless th /θ/ out loud several times, according to the features above: put
the blade of your tongue against the lower part of the back of your upper teeth and produce
an air flow. Do not let your vocal cords vibrate. Listen to the audio file to hear how it is
supposed to sound.
• Now practise the sound by pronouncing words that start with it: thing, thought, through,
thorough, threat. Then listen to the audio file below.
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TIP:
With the exception of being voiced or unvoiced, the /ð/ and /θ/ are nearly
identical; the tip of the tongue is placed behind the top front teeth. The friction
occurs between the tip of the tongue and the top front teeth. Subtle friction may
also occur between the top of the front of the tongue and the tooth ridge. The lips
are kept relaxed during the production of both 'th sounds.'
An alternative method of producing the 'th sounds' is to place the tip of the tongue
between the top and bottom front teeth. While this method will produce the
correct sound, it often creates difficulties transitioning to and from other sounds.
This is because the tongue needs to be so much further forward when between the
front teeth as compared to behind the top front teeth.
 PRACTICE:
• https://www.learning-english-online.net/pronunciation/the-english-th/