The th Sound

“You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”
Eleanor Roosevelt

One of the most difficult consonant sounds for non-native speakers is the th or / / sound and the /ð/ sound. Remember that for this sound the tip of your tongue should touch the edges of your front teeth, and the tip of the tongue vibrates a bit while air flows out through your tongue and upper teeth. It’s also acceptable to just touch the back of the front teeth as long as the air is flowing through.

There are two th sounds in English: the voiced th as in that, and the voiceless th as in think.

Practice Words for /θ/ (voiceless th)

anything, author, both, earth, ninth, health, nothing, thank, thing, Thursday, wealthy, with

Word Pairs for /θ/ (voiceless th)

with nothing, ninth birthday, both methods, third month

To correct this problem change the position of your tongue by moving it forward to touch the teeth. Also, make sure that there is a flow of air between your tongue and your teeth.

Practice Words for /ð/ (Voiced th)

although, breathe, clothing, father, mother, rather, this, the, then, they, those, weather

Word Pairs for /ð/

that clothing, this weather, neither brother, mother and father

Word Contrasts for Practice

Note the difference between the words with t and those with the voiceless th or /θ/.

Sound Contrasts for Practice

Note the difference between the words with d and those with the voiced th or /ð/.

Practice Sentences for Voiced and Voiceless th

1. Her thirty-third birthday is on the third Thursday of this month.
2. Those three things are worth thousands of dollars.
3. I think that Kenneth is Ethan’s father.
4. That new theology doesn’t threaten the faithful Catholics.
5. You can buy anything and everything in that clothing store.
6. There are those that always tell the truth.
7. I think that the south has more warmth than the north.
8. I’d rather have this one than that one.
9. Although they’re rather thin, they’re very healthy.

Practice Sentences for th Versus d

It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that things are difficult.
Seneca

When the th and d are very close together, the tip of your tongue must move quickly from touching the teeth to touching the gum ridge so that both sounds can be distinctly heard.

1. Don’t do that Dan.
2. What does that thing do?
3. Did they breathe in the dust?
4. Dan thought it was dad’s birthday.
5. How dare they do that!
6. They did it the other day. Didn’t they?