English pronunciation guide
How to pronounce the English TH sounds
English spells two different sounds with TH: voiceless /θ/ as in think and voiced /ð/ as in this. Very few languages have either, so learners swap in sounds they already know: /s/, /t/ or /f/ for /θ/, and /z/, /d/ or /v/ for /ð/. The fix is the same for both. The tongue has to touch the teeth.
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Voiceless TH
Air only, no voice. Your throat stays still.
think, three, bath, month
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Voiced TH
The same tongue position with your voice switched on.
this, they, mother, breathe
How to make the sounds
- Put the tip of your tongue lightly against the back of your top front teeth. You can also let it peek out between your teeth. Both work.
- Blow air gently through the narrow gap between tongue and teeth. You should feel the air on the tip of your tongue.
- Keep the contact light. Pressing hard stops the air, and you get /t/ or /d/ instead.
- For /ð/, keep the same shape and add your voice. Put your fingers on your throat: you should feel it buzz.
Which one? Short grammar words (the, this, that, they, there, then, than, though) and most words with TH between vowels (mother, other, weather) use voiced /ð/. Most other words, especially nouns and numbers (think, three, thank, bath, month), use voiceless /θ/.
Minimal pairs
Say each pair out loud. If the two words sound the same, the TH is not there yet.
- think sink
- three tree
- thought fought
- thank tank
- mouth mouse
- they day
- then den
- breathe breeze
12 minimal pairs: think and sink10 minimal pairs: three and tree8 minimal pairs: they and day
Tricky words with these sounds: thoroughsixthclothesstrengthsmonthstwelfth
Practice with real sentences
Tap Practice to open the sentence in Tono, listen to it, and say it. Scored against the US English model.
- I think these three things matter.Practice
- They thanked their mother on Thursday.Practice
- Is this the thirtieth or the thirteenth?Practice
- The weather is better than they thought.Practice
- Thank you for the thoughtful birthday gift.Practice
- There is nothing else they can think of.Practice
- My brother breathes through his mouth.Practice
- Both of them thought it was worth it.Practice
Common mistakes
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/s/ for /θ/: “sink” for “think”
Common among speakers of French, German, Mandarin, Japanese and Korean. The tongue stays behind the teeth, so the air hisses instead of brushing past them. Move the tip forward until it touches.
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/t/ for /θ/: “tree” for “three”
Common among speakers of Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Hindi and Russian. The tongue presses and stops the air. Touch lightly and keep the air flowing.
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/f/ for /θ/: “free” for “three”
The bottom lip does the work instead of the tongue. Keep your lips relaxed and away from your teeth.
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/z/ or /d/ for /ð/: “dey” for “they”
The voiced sound takes the same fixes: tongue forward if it comes out as /z/, lighter contact if it comes out as /d/.