This is a very specific video, but that doesn’t mean it’s not extremely helpful in learning English! The word “the” is one of the most commonly used words in the English language and so pronouncing the “th” sounds will go a long way in becoming fluent!

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How to pronounce the th /ð/ sound | American English Pronunciation  (Video)

How to pronounce the th /ð/ sound | American English Pronunciation  (Transcript)

Hi! Today we’re talking about the unvoiced “th” sound. So both the voiced and unvoiced “th” sound have the same shape of the tongue slightly out of the mouth and the upper teeth resting on the tongue while the air flows through and makes a vibration. So it’s the same shape but with the voiced version you’re using your voice.

We already learned that sound, the same sound that’s in the word “Them” and “They” but now we’re going to learn to not use our voice. So if you feel your throat this time there should be no vibration, in words such as “Thanks” and “Thought”. So give it a try now, and put your hand on your throat and feel if there is a vibration making sure you do not use your voice.

And let’s compare two words one of them has the unvoiced “th” and the other has a different sound that is a  common mistake. So one mistake is that people will make an S sound instead of saying “Think” they might say “sink”.

inAnother mistake is to create a T sound which also involves the tongue inside the mouth. So instead of saying “Thin” someone might say “Tin”, which involves a quick burst of air and a release of the air.The difference is that in the “Th” sound there is a steady flow of air creating friction through the teeth as it’s resting on the tongue.

Once again we practiced the words : “Thought”  “Thanks” and we also compared “Think” and “Sink” and “Thin” and “Tin”. So those are really good and minimal pairs to practice if you have a common mistake, it’s good to compare those two sounds.

So that you can hear the difference between the two sounds and you can produce the difference between those two sounds. It was great practicing with you! It’s time for you to practice on your own, and thank you for watching!