How to pronounce the th sound
English has two th sounds: voiceless as in "think" and voiced as in "this". Both are made with the tongue tip at the teeth, which is unusual among the world’s languages and is why so many learners replace them with t, d, s, or z. The fix is mechanical, and a minute of practice a day makes it automatic.
How to make the sound
- 1
Step 1: Tongue to the teeth
Rest the tip of your tongue lightly against the bottom of your top front teeth. In a mirror you should see a little tongue.
- 2
Step 2: Blow air for voiceless th
Push air over the tongue with no voice. Hold it: "thhh". That is the sound in "think" and "three".
- 3
Step 3: Add voice for voiced th
Keep the same position and switch the voice on. You should feel a buzz on your tongue. That is the sound in "this" and "the".
Example words
Voiceless th (no voice, air only)
- think
- three
- thank
- month
- bath
- both
- author
- birthday
Voiced th (with voice)
- this
- that
- the
- they
- mother
- other
- breathe
- smooth
Pairs that differ only by th
- thin/tin
- thank/tank
- think/sink
- then/den
- they/day
- breathe/breeze
Common mistakes
- Replacing voiceless th with t or s ("tink" or "sink" for "think").
- Replacing voiced th with d or z ("dis" for "this", "zat" for "that").
- Keeping the tongue behind the teeth. For th the tongue tip must touch or pass between the teeth.
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Read one of these aloud, then stop: I think that this thing is worth three months. Thank them both for their thoughtful birthday wishes. Breathe through the other nostril, then the other.
What Speakeroo listens for
These are the pronunciation patterns from Speakeroo’s speech feature catalog that this target tends to expose. The check above reports the ones it hears.
- Voiceless th /θ/ replacedPlace the tongue lightly between the teeth and release air without voicing.
- Voiced th /ð/ replacedUse the same dental position as /θ/ while adding vocal-cord vibration.
- /t/ or /d/ used for thKeep a narrow airflow gap instead of fully blocking the air.
- /f/ or /v/ used for thMove contact from the lower lip to the tongue and upper teeth.
Questions
What is the difference between the two th sounds?
Both use the same tongue position. Voiceless th (think) is air only; voiced th (this) adds vibration from the vocal cords. Most function words (the, this, that, they, them) use the voiced sound.
Where does my tongue go for th?
The tongue tip touches the bottom edge of the top front teeth, or sits lightly between the teeth. Air passes over the tongue. If the tongue is behind the teeth, you will produce t, d, s, or z instead.
Do native speakers always pronounce th clearly?
In fast speech the tongue barely reaches the teeth, and the sound is very short. That is normal. What matters is that it is not replaced by t, d, s, or z, which changes the word.
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