'TH': Consonant Sound / ð / as in "this"- American English Pronunciation
Вставка
- Опубліковано 9 лип 2024
- Learn how to pronounce the consonant sound /ð/ used in words like "them," "brother," or "though."
Improve your American accent with two phonetic exercises recorded by a professional speech therapist.
Practice pronunciation of the /ð/ consonant sound in commonly used words.
Check if you can find a surprise bonus at the end of the video!
Learn more here: soundsamerican.net/
Quick links:
• Consonant sound /ð/, as in "this:" 00:00
• How to make the consonant sound /ð /: 01:16
• Pronunciation exercise 1: 03:23
• Pronunciation exercise 2: 05:21
• Facts about the /ð/: 06:40
Related videos:
#AmericanPronunciation #ConsonantSounds #FricativeSounds
► Consonant Sound /f/ as in "fun" • Consonant Sound / f / ...
► Consonant Sound /v/ as in "very" • Consonant Sound / v / ...
► Consonant Sound /s/ as in "sun" • Consonant Sound / s / ...
► Consonant Sound /z/ as in "zoo" • Consonant Sound / z / ...
► Consonant Sound /ʃ/ as in "show" • Consonant Sound / ʃ / ...
► Consonant Sound /ʒ/ as in "vision" • Consonant Sound / ʒ / ...
► Consonant Sound /θ/ as in "think" • 'TH': Consonant Sound ...
► Consonant Sound /ð/ as in "this" - this video
► Consonant Sound /h/ as in "home" • Consonant Sound / h / ...
[THIS VIDEO HAS ENGLISH, SPANISH, JAPANESE, CHINESE, PORTUGUESE, AND VIETNAMESE SUBTITLES]
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TRANSCRIPT
Hello there! This is the "Sounds American" channel.
In this video, we're going to talk about the American consonant sound /ð/, as in the word "this."
You can also hear this sound in words like "than", "there", "other" or "mother."
We'll be using a special phonetic symbol - /ð/ - for this sound.
The English /ð/ sound occurs in less than 10% of the world languages and it's not present in the majority of European and Asian languages.
Therefore, this sound can be challenging for those non-native English speakers who don't have it in their native languages. They often distort it or replace it with more familiar sounds, such as /z/, /d/, /v/, or /θ/.
Keep watching to learn how to pronounce the /ð/ sound and practice it in words.
First, let's find out how to make this sound.
This sound is the voiced counterpart of the voiceless /θ/. This means that it's made the same way, but with adding a voice.
Slightly open your mouth and put the tip of your tongue between your front teeth.
Note that the tip of your tongue may gently touch the bottom of your upper front teeth.
Now blow air over your tongue making a noise. The stream of air should flow between your upper teeth and the tongue.
Note that the /ð/ is a voiced consonant sound, so you need to add your voice when pronouncing it.
Let's try saying it: /ð/, /ð/, /ð/.
Here are a few common mistakes that people make when pronouncing the /ð/:
1. Not pushing the tongue forward enough or pressing the tip of the tongue against the upper front teeth. This way you'll make a consonant that sounds more like a /z/.
- Put the tip of your tongue between your upper and bottom front teeth.
2. Stopping the airflow with the tip of the tongue. The /ð/ sound gets distorted and sounds more like /d/ or even /t/.
- /ð/ is a continuous sound; so keep the airstream flowing. You should be able to stretch the /ð/ out: /ð- ð- ð- ð/.
[Pronunciation exercise]
Now, let's practice the /ð/ sound in some words.
You'll see a word on the screen and hear its pronunciation. Like this.
You'll have a few seconds to pronounce the word. Make sure you repeat each word after the speaker, you'll be surprised how fast your pronunciation improves.
Let's begin.
• than
• that
• the
• their
• them
• then
• there
• these
• they
• this
• those
• though
• thus
• another
• bathe
Let's pause for a second and check on how you're making the /ð/ sound.
The tip of your tongue should be between your teeth.
The sound is made from the friction in the stream of air flowing between your tongue and the teeth. Don't forget to add your voice.
Let's continue practicing.
[Pronunciation exercise]
• bother
• breathe
• brother
• either
• father
• further
• gather
• leather
• mother
• northern
• other
• rather
• smooth
• together
• weather
You're done! Congratulations!
BTW, if you count all the words with the consonant sound /ð/, there won't be many of them. We're crazy enough to know that it's less than one percent of all English words.
However, most of them are function words; and function words are the most frequently used ones in American English. So the consonant sound /ð/ is present in practically every sentence.
You probably want to go back and practice now :)
Don't be shy, leave us a comment if you have any questions.
We love your comments!
Stay tuned and don't forget to subscribe!
🎉Great news!🎉 Our brand new Sounds American website is up and running!🚀🎊 There's lots of content on pronunciation.🤓You can start with the article about the /ð/ sound: soundsamerican.net/article/consonant_sound_voiced_th_as_in_this
great
You make simple, difficult things. Best way to illustrate the combination of the toungue and air flux.
Thank you for your feedback, glad you like our lessons!😀👋
@@SoundsAmerican l
Thank you so much for your contribution to the English learning community.
Thank you for this lesson!
i have been searching for this for long time .thank you so much!
🤗🖖
I feel that I am improving with this sound and the other unvoiced one... The problem is that I don't know if I pronounce them correctly, but I keep practicing, following the way you pronounce them. Even though I have some insecurity with English sounds, I keep practicing them until I can pronounce them. These videos are good, since not only do you speak slowly (I use the subtitles in my language to follow along, as I can't understand many things and your slow speech allows me to read and follow the video at the same time), but the pronunciation of the sounds is detailed as well. Thank you for making them available to us, English language learners.
I have pronunced Th , thanks Sounds American , Your Channel so useful
awesome!!! super!!!! now I can finally say it correctly!!! I cannot thank you enough! these videos showing the position of the tongue, and mentioning if it's voiceless, or with vocal cords being involved, it's the best in learning phonics, and speaking almost like a native. it's great!
+Raphaelly Raphaelly Glad you liked it! :) We always strive to make our videos as explanatory and comprehensive as possible.
I’ve been in Egypt for a year now, studying Arabic, and improving my English, which I started learning in the fifth grade in 1975. I am now 61 years old.
Thank You. I think this is the best video for me to learn the ‘TH’ Sound.🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿.
Love you guys! Thank you for your work and help!
Thanks to everyone who participated in *this WORDS HUNTING CONTEST #2!*
The task was to find the longest words with the voiced /ð/ sound.
Here’re the top five submitted entries:
1. otherworldliness 16 letters
2. weatherproofness 16 letters
3. brotherlessness - 15 letters
4. brothers-in-law 15 letters
5. thenceforwards 14 letters
We must admit, that we even learned some new words :).
The two longest words are: *otherworldliness* and *weatherproofness*. Both words contain 16 letters, but the word *otherworldliness* was submitted 2 hours earlier.
It means, that the prize goes to *our winner Hendra Polover!*
Congratulations, Hendra!
Excuse me where can I find the sound of H.?
Atradocao. Do. Professor
These videos are very good, they communicate the subject well. that wave, I did not have them before to learn. Thasnk for post.
I love this serious of video that shows us how to pronounce right vowels and consonants.thank you for your effort.you're so great
Glad it was helpful!👋
Thank you for the lesson
Esse video é incrível...não vi nada igual....profissionalismo....criatividade.!
As veses me sinto incapaz por não fazer o som adequado....vou repetir quantas vezes for necessário...antes desse vídeo pensei em procurar uma Fonodiologo ....Agradecida vou seguir voce e compartilhar seu video....
Thank you!
Super helpful, thanks
Thank you! Your videos are so good and help me a lot of.
+Mary Dc , you're very welcome! Glad to hear it!
I really appreciate your work! For the Ukrainians both consonant sounds /ð/ and /θ/ are quite difficult to pronounce. It is often heard /z/ and /s/ instead of these sounds. Your videos are extremely helpful. After practicing my pronunciation is becoming better and more natural. Thanks a lot!!!
+Олена Розводовська , Олена, thank you very much for your feedback! We're glad to hear it! Please stay tuned for more videos we'll be posting! Let us know if you have any questions :).
thank you very much for these excellent videos
Great explanation.Thank you.
*WORDS HUNTING CONTEST #2 IS NOW OPEN*
WANTED: *the longest* English word with the consonant sound /ð/.
REWARD: $25 Amazon gift card.
Hello there, fellow American Accent learners!
In this contest you’ll have to *find the longest English word with the consonant sound /ð/*.
All you have to do is to post word(s) you’ve found as comments to this video.
The winner will receive a *$25* Amazon gift card.
*TIPS:*
· The voiced consonant /ð/ is always represented by the combination of letters ‘th’.
· ‘th’ sounds as the /ð/ at the beginning of function words, e.g. “this” (4 letters long). The function words are mostly (but not always) short.
· ‘th’ is also pronounced as the /ð/ between vowels, e.g. “smoothing” (9 letters long).
*RULES:*
· Any word with the consonant sound /ð/ will be a valid contest entry
· The longest word of all will be the winner
· The entries will be accepted as comments *to this video only*
· If two or more words of the same length are submitted, the earliest submitted entry will win
· The contest ends at 12pm (PST), Thursday, December 15th, 2016.
· One word = one entry, please.
I just can't stop watching your all videos..
👍👋
This is the best vid for learning the ð sound ever👍
Hello techer, I have been practising TH since You told me. Today my teacher said to me wow You improved TH. this is why thanks, And everyday I practice a lot for pronounciation
Really happy to hear that! 😁 Say Hi to your teacher.
thanks a lot for your videos!
this help me A LOT! thanks!!
+Anjelina23 , we're very glad to hear that! :)
Thanks a lot. After practicing with your videos, now I can see the change in pronunciation. Thanks again.
Great video!
I just can't stop watching your all videos.
Thank you so much.
However,
I am sorry that there is no video explaining consonant blends like pr- str-.
Would you post a video describing how to pronounce consonant blends?
Thanks a lot
Thank you very much. I can inhibit my inertia of English after seeing these videos and following the rules 👍👍
i finally can pronounce this consonant after years. thank you so much 🙏🏻
Great!
amazing video for / ð / sound.
Keep up your wonderful work!
+Truong Binh we will! Thanks!
thanks a lot!!
Thanks for your lecturer. It's so interesting :)
+Bich Nguyen , you're welcome! Glad you liked it!
Thanks so much for doing this. I have been working in T-mobile's customer care call center and their customers are rude with people's bad pronunciation so I started to watch your videos and now They can understand me more 😂🤙🏻🤙🏻
+Lenny Noé Mirón Salazar , this sounds awesome! We're very glad to hear that! How long had you been practicing until you saw the improvement?
I never thought that I've been doing it wrong. Thanks to this channel ❤️🇵🇭
Glad it was so helpful!
Starting it from video 1. I'm already in the bpo industry which caters American but i wanna sound more native or at least reduce my native Filipino accent. Again, thanks for this channel 😊
It's really great! Thanks :)
+林宜嫺, glad you liked it!
Thank you very much. So lovely get to know your channel!!
You are so welcome!
Thanks teacher
Great channel, thank you so much :)
+Adam from Poland , 😀👋
Thanks 😊
thank you
Thanks teachear❤
P-E-R-F-E-C-T !
I love this channel so much 😍
☺👋
Good lesson
Quality 👍👏
tks so much! :))
+Swordr STR Glad you liked it!
Thank you so much. I have always hated this sound because I had trouble pronouncing it. I speak Russian, so for me it is something between "з", "ф" and "в", I cannot connect them. But after this video I finally understood how to pronounce it and I even almost succeeded. Ok, I need more practice 😅
That's great! Glad to hear that!
thanks
A great video. I'd like to ask you about how to pronounce this sound (voiced interdental) in connected speech. It's tricky.
Thanks for sharing this video. I am happy to know that ‘th’ in word ‘smooth’ is voiced sound because ‘th’ is mostly voiceless at the end of the word, like North. Are there any other English words like smooth, e. g. ‘th’ is voiced sound at the end of the word?
thank you very much
+Thanh Nguyen, you're welcome!😀
what a great video !! Keep going :))))
Glad you liked it! Of course, just stay tuned! 😀
Hi Vietnamese guy :))
I same you
So brilliant as usual! I am Arabic that is why I find easy to learn because we have that sound. ذ 'th'e
That's great!
Very Good!
+Carlos Joel Sarmiento Ramos , 😀👋
thanks you
+Lee Đỗ , you're very welcome!👋😀
Thanks
No problem
informative!
Happy to hear that!
Well explained
+Emerald Coral Glad you liked it!
This is especially hard when you have an overbite and a small tongue😭
nice!
it difficult to pronounce smoothly. especially this part.
+hjh jhg , yes, it's hard for many people, due to the /ð/ and the /l/ sounds occurring together. Try to practice it like this: /ð/--> /l/ -->/ðl/, hold the /ð/ longer (ð-ð-ð-ð) and then add the /l/. Good luck and please let us know how it goes! 🙂
In albania we have “dh” which is pronounced excatly like this.It sound like th(which also is a letter in albanian) but just a bit different.
Thank you! Good to know!
Your videos are awesome, I think my pronunciation is better now. A tip, try to learn one phoneme a day, trying to learn more than one is a lot for our minds since is something new for us.
Thanks! 😃
Thank to you, I made it!!
+Ani-BG Channel 👍😊
Thanks for your channel. It is difficult to pronounce word: Choir; Jewel, Jaguar, Coward and until video 14, definetively for me, query!
Love you 💕
We love you too! 💚
@@SoundsAmerican 💕💕
ðis is amazing
We really love this channel. But we don't know how to record our pronunciations and compare with the speaker. Pls introduce us some apps or how to do that. Thanks so much.
+NHật Quang Đặng You can use our own app when it's on the market :)
Longest words with voiced th sound are weatherproof, Brother-in-law, Brothers-in-law, thenceforth.
Hello Sounds American Channel! I prefer to include the IPA forms of the words in my own vocabulary-list and I use US version of Cambridge Dictionary but I've noticed some of the words are written differently comparing with your videos. E.G. there (in Cambridge Dictionary it is /ðeər/
and in your video it is /ðɛr/). So my question is what do you use as a source. Thanks and Greetings from Turkey!
Hello there,
Such a good question!
We like the transcription that Cambridge Dictionary provides, our notation is just slightly different. For example, we use /ɛ/ and /ɚ/ instead of the /e/ and /ər/ symbols that they use.
As for the source, well, that's a little complicated, because IPA notations vary and we tried to find something more or less standard. So we consulted a number of linguistic and speech therapy manuals when deciding on which symbols to use. The main idea was to avoid ambiguity as much as possible and keep the accuracy.
Here's a good article on American phonology on Wiki (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_American_English#Phonology) , the IPA for General American that they list is very close to what we use. The only difference is the R-Colored Vowel sounds, we don't use the usual /r/ instead of /ɹ/. The /ɹ/ symbol is not supported by all fonts.
Hope this helps!
It would be great if you could make a comparison video between /d/ and /ð/ sounds.
I'm a spanish native speaker, and it's really hard for me to hear the difference between those sounds.
I think that I can make the sounds, but hearing the difference in a sentence is really difficult for me.
Great suggestion! We'll add it to our plans.
Hi there.. Thank you for the good work you have done over the year. I have a problem with the word "WITH". It has the final sound " ð" but for me it seems like the "θ". Please help me
You're not mistaken. Most Americans pronounce "with" with the voiceless /θ/: /wɪθ/. This is one of the many differences between British and American English.
This sound is one of the hardest sounds I've ever had to master. It's been three months and still I'm not satisfied. Thank God, I have T and D sounds in my native language. I hear people from romance language family pronounce it as dental stop. Sounds funny to me. Though, I have these dental stops in my language.
Hello there, Mehedi Hasan. Hope this video will help you make progress with this sound, we know that it can be challenging.
nice post...
+Mick Sam, thank you! Glad you liked it!
When saying "and thus", do we connect the two words and pronounce just the "d" in "and" instead of pronouncing both "d" + "th"?
no, you can drop the "d" - this is called connected speech. www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/connected-speech
An' thus
Ur awesome
+Michael Wei, 😊 we like you too! 👋
Interesting is ðæt I þought ðis sound was only present in iceladic and in feroese. Example:
Dansið- Dance
Olá: Por que em SMOOTH o TH tem som de /ð/, vozeado?
one more: weatherproofness
I have a quick question: the sound is like a T with the tongue in between the lips?
+Chopper Not exactly, the /t/ sound is made when you contact your alveolar ridge behind your upper front teeth with a tip of your tongue. The /t/ sound is voiceless. The /ð/ sound is made when you put the tip of your tongue between your teeth (not the lips). The /ð/ sound is voiced.
Подскажите, в предложениях , где that можно опускать например I know that you love me , американцы как-то не понятно его произносят, кто-то знает как ?
Hello SoundsAmerican!
I have a few questions concerning the phone [ð] since I have been struggling with this sound for soooo long. And I also teach English to someone else, so it's really important for me to know the answer.
Disclaimer: I really tried to look for the answers on the internet, but there is a huge mess in the sources and information available, many sources claim something different (plus I really prefer to ask someone American about this because I focus on American English).
1) In your video, there is clearly stated that you are supposed to make the sound with your tongue in between the teeth, just slightly touching the upper teeth, letting the air through just a bit in order to make that "hdhzz" sound.
But to be honest, it seems to me that many native speakers do not even make the "zz" sound in the phone. And I am not talking about the Irish or some parts of Chicago - when I am watching an American movie, I mostly do not even hear the "zz" part of the sound in the speech of the actors.
To me, the phone [ð] sounds very often like [d], especially when the actor is speaking quickly. As if natives stopped the flow of air with their tongue instead of letting it through.
=> Is it really that common for Americans to pronounce [ð] that clearly, making even the "zz" sound in the process? Or is it just a textbook ideal that most people do not adhere to?
2) The clear distinction comes when I am watching some British actors - to me, it seems that [ð] is much more carefully pronounced in the UK. Is it just a feeling of mine, or is it true?
3) The last question is connected to the related phone [θ]. If there is some Spanish speaker reading this, I would appreciate any help in this.
- In the IPA transcription of many Spanish-English dictionaries, the European, peninsular Spanish contains this sound [θ] in many words. But when I am listening to some English-speaking people pronounce the sound [θ] in their English words (think, thing, thanks, through, etc), I hear the phone [θ] often a bit differently, sounding less s-like and more like going into [f].
=> Can I really use the same sound the European Spanish uses or not when speaking English?
Thank you very much for your answers! :)
I came here to research and fill about danish /ð/ sound. 🇩🇰🇬🇧
your completely right.. I went back and practice th sound :( so hard to latin people
Do you have any android apps that we could practice with? It is an awesome channel.
Try out Elsa
code for the letter ð
CTRL+SHIFT+U = underlined u
underlined u + 00f0 = u00f0, press enter, ð
hello. what book would you recommend me to study American Phonetics? thanks
+AJ Lobo, it depends on many factors, such as your level of English knowledge, if you have studied phonetics at all, what are you looking to get as a result of your studies, etc. It's hard to give recommendations otherwise :).
Well, I´m taking the phonetics course at college. I meant a book that explains the symbols, rules, how to transcribe, etc.
+AJ Lobo ,
This book would be good: Fundamentals of Phonetics: A Practical Guide for Students by Larry H. Small. It comes with Audio and practice exercises. (www.amazon.com/Fundamentals-Phonetics-Practical-Communication-Disorders-ebook/dp/B006Y0XRVE/ref=mt_kindle?_encoding=UTF8&me=)
How do I add my voice to a sound ? Like in w, r and th
To add your voice when pronouncing any sound, you just need to vibrate your vocal cords. When you pronounce any vowel sound, for example, /u/ as in "blue," place a finger to your throat and you'll feel vibration. That's the vibration of your vocal cords. Try to do the same when making /w/, /r/ and /ð/.
Awesome stuff, Sounds American! Keep going!
Practical question now - I have a friend who is suffering to pronounce th sound this morning after number of B52 cocktails last night. Looks like a common mistake :) any hints how to address it? :)
Hello there :),
Sure! Speech therapists are well aware of this problem.
Your friend needs to know the exact moment when the distortion occurs. To figure it out, your friend should drink a B52 and right after that pronounce a phrase: “ this B52, that B52 and the other B52”. Repeat these steps until the / ð/ gets distorted.
Once your friend knows the exact number of B52s, the things will get a lot easier. He just needs to consume this amount before practicing any American English sounds.
Sounds good! Logging off to practice :)
What about the words "with", "within" and "without"?
I know that they can be pronounced either with the voiced or the unvoiced th, but I'd like to know which one is more common among native speakers, and which one I should use.
I've noticed that "with" is always pronounced with an unvoiced th sound if it is alone or at the end of a sentence, but when it is followed by a vowel (e.g. "with it", "with a" or even "with you"), a lot of speakers tend to pronounce it with a voiced th sound instead, and the same goes for "within" and "without".
Awesome question! We pronounce these three words with the voiceless 'TH' sound: /wɪθ/, /wɪθˈɪn/, and /wɪθˈaʊt/. Yes, you're right, two pronunciation variants exist and are acceptable in the US. According to Longman pronunciation Dictionary, ~84% of people in the US pronounce the word "with" with the /θ/ sound.
Hope it helps! ☺️
As a Pashto speaking people I feel extreme exhaustion learning voice and voiceless version of th . Arabic have equivalent for the th in video ذ
smooth is different because it's a content word and there isn't a vowel after the (th) but we pronounce it like function words.Why?
ð as bárðarbunga (a volcano in iceland)
👍😊
I'm a German native speaker. We don't have this sound. This one is definitely the most difficult one haha. I hope I will be able to pronounce it right soon
Sure. Just practice regularly and you'll definitely be able to pronounce it. Let us know if you have any questions!
March 22, 2020
Do you mind to tell me what software did you use?
+Panji Ahmad N , not at all! It's our own app, it's not publicly available yet, but we're going to release it soon. We'll announce the release on this channel, so if you want to receive a notification, please, subscribe! :) Stay tuned!