How to pronounce "THE".

Yuri   Mon Jan 19, 2009 4:57 am GMT
I know it seems like an easy quiestion but it really isn't, because it changes depending on the sentance, sometimes it sounds like "DI", other time like "DE" and other times like "DA", could native speakers give me some examples of when to use each? I know you usually pronounce it like "DEE" when emphasizing something.
Jago   Mon Jan 19, 2009 12:24 pm GMT
You shouldn't be pronouncing it with a 'D' at all.
If you use the soft version (sounds like 'the' in 'heather') for everything then you'll be fine. There's no need to even bring the other pronounciations into your speech if you don't want to.
Damian in Thcotland   Mon Jan 19, 2009 12:40 pm GMT
We are all made the same way physiologically. If you place the tip of your tongue between your teeth and then gently close your teeth until they just touch your tongue and then try to hum while keeping your tongue and teeth perfectly motionless. You then have a spot on "TH" sound as in words like "the" and "weather" and "bother" and "hither" and "thither" etc.

If, on the other hand, you exhale breath from your lungs out between the slightly closed teeth then you have the other version of the TH" sound - as in "thin" and "through" and "opthalmic" and, of course, "teeth".

Hopefully you don't have a lithp as that will surely meth up your etheth.
Travis   Mon Jan 19, 2009 6:29 pm GMT
>>You shouldn't be pronouncing it with a 'D' at all.
If you use the soft version (sounds like 'the' in 'heather') for everything then you'll be fine. There's no need to even bring the other pronounciations into your speech if you don't want to.<<

You are ignoring the good few English dialects out there which do just that, and the even more English dialects which do so when words like "the" follow a word ending in an obstruent, even though with that point of view you would probably view them as "nonstandard".
Yuri   Mon Jan 19, 2009 8:20 pm GMT
Ok, I might've not explained myself properly, I do know how to make the TH sound, what I mean is that sometimes the way to pronounce THE varies according to the sentance of emphasis, for example, sometimes when people say it slowly it sounds like THA, ans sometimes when they wanna "highlight" sometimes they say THEE, so what I was asking is, if you could give me some examples of when it is pronounced differently.

P.D. althoght, you as native speakers might not even notice it yourselves when you do it, but it does vary.
Leasnam   Mon Jan 19, 2009 8:20 pm GMT
It's pronounced /Di/ before a word beginning with a vowel sound (eg. The apple = *thee apple*) but can also be pronounced such when stressed (He's "THE" man), but not always (it can also be: He's "/D@/" man)

It is pronounced /D@/ (i.e. "tha"/"thuh") in almost all other circumstances: the book, the hand, the broken pedal, etc
Yuri   Mon Jan 19, 2009 11:15 pm GMT
Man, that was helpful, why don't they teach you that at school.
Robin Michael   Tue Jan 20, 2009 12:29 am GMT
When I was a child, I had difficulty pronouncing 'th' sounds, as in 'the'. Consequently I was taken to see a Speech Specialist, and I did various exercises pronouncing the 'th' sound in various words.

weather: wea'th'er

etc

Not all native speakers pronounce 'th' when they should. Irish people famously pronounce or mispronounce 'think' as 'tink'.

Similarly with 'the': Jamaicans in particular say 'Da' rather then 'the', it is just a feature of their dialect.

Londoners tend to mispronounce the 'th' sound too, replacing it with 'f'.
Leasnam   Tue Jan 20, 2009 8:43 pm GMT
<<Londoners tend to mispronounce the 'th' sound too, replacing it with 'f'. >>

Yes, but only when the 'th' sound is /T/ as in "thin", where it is spoken out as "fin"
12345   Wed Jan 21, 2009 1:08 am GMT
<<Leasnam Mon Jan 19, 2009 8:20 pm GMT
It's pronounced /Di/ before a word beginning with a vowel sound (eg. The apple = *thee apple*) but can also be pronounced such when stressed (He's "THE" man), but not always (it can also be: He's "/D@/" man)

It is pronounced /D@/ (i.e. "tha"/"thuh") in almost all other circumstances: the book, the hand, the broken pedal, etc >>

You shouldn´t forget words like university.

If you say university it starts with a J. So it's /D@/ university.
Skippy   Wed Jan 21, 2009 3:36 pm GMT
/D@/ if preceeding a consonant, /Di/ if proceeding a vowel, at least this is the case in SAE, but many in Southern California do not make this distinction, they seem to use /D@/ exclusively except in careful speech. (I don't mean to pick on SoCal, again, but I haven't really observed this anywhere else except sporadically).
Leasnam   Wed Jan 21, 2009 8:46 pm GMT
<<If you say university it starts with a J. So it's /D@/ university. >>

Yes, that is why I said "It's pronounced /Di/ before a word beginning with a vowel *sound* ", and not "beginning with a vowel".

You are correct, 'university' begins with a consonant sound
Kate   Sun Jan 25, 2009 7:38 pm GMT
Hi Yuri,

The word "the" is, as was posted above, pronounced as "thee" if it is before any word that begins with a vowel, and as "thuh" if is it before a word beginning with a consonant.

- "Thee" engine
- "Thuh" boat

This is also found with the words, "a," and "an." "A" is used the same way "thuh" is used; before a word beginning with a consonant sound, and "an" is used before a word that begins with a vowel.

- An engine
- A boat

One more thing that needs to be addressed is the use of it before a consonant that begins with the sound of a vowel. ie: the use of the silent "h," as in "honor." In this case, and others where the first consonant is silent to make the word begin with a vowel sound, you would also use the word as though it is in front of a word beginning with a vowel. If the "h" is sounded in the beginning of the word following , it would be "thuh"

- "Thee" honor was "thuh" highlight of the evening.
- "Thee" "h" is a letter that can be silent.

For the words "a" and "an:"

- It was "an" honor.
- It was "a" letter of honor.

You had also asked about the sound of "i," like "it." This is not proper enunciation, but it is widely used, such as in "thi" man, or "thi" boat, "thi" tire, etc... So, in answer to your question of when the "i" sound is used in this word, it would be only where you would use it as a "thuh" sound before a word that begins with a consonant sound. Again, let me stress that the "i" sound may be acceptable, but it is not proper English.
Amabo   Sun Jan 25, 2009 9:02 pm GMT
Actually, we're approaching this backwards.

The truth is that there are two distinct definite article forms in spoken English which are written identically as "the."
Skippy   Mon Jan 26, 2009 9:02 pm GMT
They're not distinct in all dialects.

And when you pronounce it alone, btw, such as in the title of this topic, I would pronounce it "thee."