'TH': Consonant Sound / θ / as in "think"- American English Pronunciation
Learn how to pronounce the consonant sound /θ/ used in words like "theater," "south," or "bathroom."
Improve your American accent with two phonetic exercises recorded by a professional speech therapist.
Practice pronunciation of the /θ/ 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 /θ/, as in "think:" 00:00
• How to make the /θ/ sound: 01:06
• Most common mistakes with the /θ/ sound: 02:05
• Pronunciation exercise 1: 03:26
• Pronunciation exercise 2: 05:24
• Most common spelling for the /θ/ sound: 06:33
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" - this video
► Consonant Sound /ð/ as in "this"
• 'TH': Consonant Sound ...
► Consonant Sound /h/ as in "home"
• Consonant Sound / h / ...
[ THIS VIDEO HAS ENGLISH, SPANISH, JAPANESE, CHINESE, VIETNAMESE, KOREAN, PORTUGUESE, AND RUSSIAN 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 /θ/, as in the word "think." You can also hear this sound in words like "thank," "bath," "author" or "three."
We'll be using a special phonetic symbol - /θ/ - for this sound.
The English /θ/ sound occurs in very few world languages, so it's unfamiliar to the majority of non-native speakers. Many non-native speakers often distort it or replace it with more familiar sounds, such as /s/, /t/, or /f/.
Fortunately, this sound is not that hard to make. Once you learn how to do it, it's just a matter of practice.
So, let's find out how to make the /θ/ sound.
This sound is all about the tip of your tongue.
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 noise with friction. The stream of air should flow between your upper teeth and your tongue.
Note that the /θ/ is a voiceless fricative sound.
This means that it's made from friction in the stream of air, but not with your voice.
Let's try saying it: /θ/, /θ/, /θ/.
Here are a few typical mistakes that people make when pronouncing the /θ/ sound:
1. Keeping the mouth closed or "biting" the bottom lip. The /θ/ gets distorted and sounds more like the /f/.
- Make sure your mouth is slightly open and that your upper teeth don't touch your lower lip.
2. Not pushing the tongue forward enough or pressing the tongue against the upper front teeth. This way you'll make a sound in between the /s/, /z/, and the /θ/.
- Put the tip of your tongue between your upper and bottom front teeth.
3. Stopping the airflow with the tip of the tongue. The /θ/ sound gets distorted and sounds more like /t/ or /d/.
- /θ/ is a continuous sound; so keep the airstream flowing. You should be able to stretch the /θ/ out: /θ-θ-θ- θ/.
Now, let's practice the /θ/ 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. To achieve the best results, repeat each word after the speaker and try to practice as many words as possible.
Let's begin.
[Pronunciation exercise]
• birth
• both
• cloth
• death
• depth
• earth
• faith
• fifth
• forth
• math
• moth
• mouth
• ninth
• north
• teeth
[Pronunciation exercise]
• tenth
• thank
• theft
• theme
• thick
• thief
• thin
• thing
• think
• third
• thorn
• three
• threw
• throw
Did you know that the combination of the letters "th" may actually represent two sounds:
the voiceless consonant sound /θ/, as in the word "think,"
and the voiced consonant sound /ð/, as in the word "this"?
Here's how you can check which sound to use:
"th" sounds as /θ/ at the beginning or at the end of the stem of content words. For example, "theater," or "health."
"th" sounds as /ð/ at the beginning of function words. For example, "this." Or between vowels in content words, for example, "breathe."
Пікірлер: 435
🎉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 /θ/ sound: soundsamerican.net/article/consonant_sound_voiceless_th_as_in_think
@mzhunior
Жыл бұрын
I love your new website! Thank you for the work you've been doing! I love it!
@COLD_PLAYS2
6 ай бұрын
0:14
3:37 - bath 3:54 - birth 3:58 - both 4:03 - cloth 4:07 - death 4:11 - depth 4:16 - earth 4:20 - faith 4:24 - fifth 4:28 - forth 4:33 - math 4:37 - month 4:42 mouth 4:47 - ninth 4:51 - north 4:56 - teeth
@norovbeksulton72
5 ай бұрын
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
We’re happy to announce *the winner of this WORDS HUNTING CONTEST!* *Hendra Polover* submitted the largest number of words in which digraph “th” doesn’t sound as either voiced /ð/ or voiceless /θ/. Hendra, we will mention you in one of our next videos! Thank you for your participation!
@GulfSucks
2 жыл бұрын
oʊ goʃ! Edit: This means oh gosh
I thought I knew everything about these sounds and now I learnt that you can determine when to use which one. I had accepted that there was no way to know and had to memorize. Wonderful videos, these are excellent resources to learn english. Very nice. Thanks A LOT !!!
They should this more in non-native English classes! Growing up, even the teachers replaced it with a more familiar sound and didn't mind. Anyway, never too late to learn :) Priceless video.
@SoundsAmerican
4 жыл бұрын
Glad it was useful!😀👋
@BlueBloxRoblox
2 жыл бұрын
Yeah
@bonnie7742
Жыл бұрын
in Brazil we just learn verb to be in school
Hello fellow American Accent Learners! Let’s add some fun to our learning process. What would you say about a little contest on the Sounds American channel? *WORDS HUNTING CONTEST* We’re looking for English words where the digraph “th” sounds in a different/unusual way. So, we're asking you to find and post such words in the comments for this video. The person who posts the most words wins! CONTEST RULES: As you probably know, in English the digraph “th” represents in most cases one of two phonemes: the voiceless fricative sound /θ/ (as in “think”) or voiced fricative /ð/ (as in ‘this’). The voiceless /θ/ is discussed in this very video, and we’re going to publish a video about the voiced /ð/ sound next week. For this contest, we’re looking for words where “th” *does NOT sound as /θ/ or /ð/*. TIPS: • Most often, these are compound words, such as “penthouse”. • Another case is words that come from other languages (loan words) or proper nouns, for example “Thailand”. • Finally, there are some English words where the “th” digraph has a specific American pronunciation. For example, “clothes” /kloʊz/. Compare to the British pronunciation /kləʊðz/. Any word where “th” *does NOT sound as /θ/ or /ð/*, including words that fall in one of the categories above, will be considered a valid contest entry. Please post words you find in the comments for this video *before noon December, 15 (Pacific Time)*. One word = one comment, please. The winner will be proudly mentioned in one of our future videos!
@SoundsAmerican
7 жыл бұрын
+Ana Guillén Valencia , hello there Ana. For our videos we use our own app. This app is not publicly available yet, but we'll release it soon. We will announce it here on this channel, so please, make sure you're subscribe to receive a notification :).
@ingridjessicaparhuanavalde3628
5 жыл бұрын
Sounds American when can I use this app?? Thanks for the video ;)
the best video, for learning english, thank you.
I'm an Argentinean teacher of English and your videos proved to be wonderfully useful to teach my Ph biology students. Thanks a lot for sharing
@SoundsAmerican
7 жыл бұрын
+NORA RAQUEL FRIZZA, happy to know that our videos are used by teachers. Let us know if you have any topics or ideas for new videos!
@joangg
4 жыл бұрын
Para este sonido en concreto recuerda que le puedes decir a tus alumnos argentinos que es exactamente el sonido que hacemos en España para la Z y las combinaciones Ce y Ci. Sólo hay que imitar el acento "gallego"! ;-)
I love the way you teach American sounds.
These videos are amazing. I feel like I found what I was missing. English teachers in my country don't usually explain this to their students. A lot of them don't even worry about pronunciation. Thank you so much, you don't know how this helps us!
@SoundsAmerican
6 жыл бұрын
+Marquito L , 😀You're welcome and stay tuned for new videos!👋
@chester-jn9rw
Жыл бұрын
Where are you from?
@marquitomd
Жыл бұрын
@@chester-jn9rw hi, I'm from Argentina 🇦🇷❤️
Este é o melhor canal para aprender esses temas, por isto estou assistindo todos os vídeos do canal pelo menos duas vezes cada kkkk parabéns
Super excellent Thank you!!! Pronunciation is the most difficult art to learn English.
so far the best channel about phonetic
I love this channel! Always when I don't know how to pronounce some sound I come here to learn how to do it with your videos. My tongue is very happy to learn new sounds!
@SoundsAmerican
3 жыл бұрын
Awesome! Let us know if you have any questions!
Hey, you are wonderful .This is the first time i have learnt the exact sound of 'th'.
@SoundsAmerican
5 жыл бұрын
😀👋
0:30 This sound is also used in Icelandic, European Spanish, Albanian, and Greek.
@thehighpriestess8431
2 жыл бұрын
Yes Spanish from Spain. Like in the word zapato, zarzuela, cerca, circa and there you go!
Thank you for your help guys! I'm waiting for your new videos!!
Muchas gracias excelentes videos ..me los estoy viendo tooooodos
Funny, the IPA symbol for the "th" sound is the greek θ which has the same sound in modern greek.
@SoundsAmerican
2 жыл бұрын
That's right!
@BlueBloxRoblox
2 жыл бұрын
Yeah dude
@hoctienganhcungdaisy9121
Жыл бұрын
Thanks for your information
Sinking ship: We are Sinking. Help! Me : What are you THinking?
Why aren't you guys more popular? This thing is AWESOME
@SoundsAmerican
4 жыл бұрын
+ Genesis Yriarte You can help us to become more popular 😜. Share our videos with your friends, pets, and relatives 😊👋
Thank you so much! I prepare my TOEFL speaking test with your video :) 감사합니다!
@SoundsAmerican
3 жыл бұрын
Best of luck!
Thank you Sounds American
Your channel is awesome! Thank you very much. -- NYC Teacher
keep up the good work .It is really help me a lot
Thanks teacher
thank you so much you're a great teacher!
@SoundsAmerican
7 жыл бұрын
+idkidontcare, you're welcome! Thanks :)
Thank you for great video.
This is amazing . Thanks
@SoundsAmerican
7 жыл бұрын
+Ezequiel Gouveia, you're very welcome! :)
Sound great thanks a lot
Thanks for making this video
Thanks you so much
Thank you so much for your videos!:) I’ve saved so much money on practicing with you than having an experience teacher 😅❣️
Keep up your amazing work!
@SoundsAmerican
7 жыл бұрын
+Truong Binh 🖖
Thank you so much for this video …I can practice with it again and again …
@SoundsAmerican
2 жыл бұрын
Wonderful!
Thanks that very useful
This video is very useful,thank you
@SoundsAmerican
2 жыл бұрын
Great, you're welcome!
So amazing the best channel of American pronunciation. Could you make a video to clarify the phonetic idioms like voiced, fricative sounds and so on.....
its so interesting and interactive for me non native speakers like me....thank you.
@SoundsAmerican
5 жыл бұрын
+Ayus Acharya Glad to hear that! You're welcome!
hey buddy, your videos are useful they help me so much, i can improve my pronunciation.
@SoundsAmerican
7 жыл бұрын
+ANGEL Osvaldo, awesome! Glad to hear that! Stay tuned for more videos :).
Hello, thank you so much for sharing this video. Best one on this topic and very helpful.
@SoundsAmerican
6 жыл бұрын
+Saurabh Hello there! You're welcome!
Thanks
me: three google translator: FREE
@karlosdaniel6537
3 жыл бұрын
What you really said: "tree" haha
@gabrielasouza1118
3 жыл бұрын
@@karlosdaniel6537 omg achei que era só eu que ficava pensando nisso
@user-vo9cv5lr1y
3 жыл бұрын
In Greek: tree
@somebody7138
3 жыл бұрын
Me: three Google : oui
教得很好
very helpful, thanks a lot
@SoundsAmerican
11 ай бұрын
Glad it helped!
I love this channel!
thank you
Seriously you are awesome you teach this in such a clear way I don't know why all teachers don't do the same everything would be easier.. 👌👌thanks from Panamá🇵🇦🇵🇦
@SoundsAmerican
4 жыл бұрын
Glad it was helpful! BTW, we also post some stuff on the Community page on this channel. Check it out, if you're interested: kzread.info/dron/-MSYk9R94F3TMuKAnQ7dDg.htmlcommunity
Thank you so much you made English speaking easy
@SoundsAmerican
4 жыл бұрын
Glad to hear that
This sound is easy for me, thanks for the post.
@rodrigoadrianrodriguezaedo4477
5 жыл бұрын
me too
Excellent!!!
it becomes easier for me to mimic the position of mouth to pronounce in the right way. Thanks a lot
@SoundsAmerican
6 жыл бұрын
+Quyên Trương , glad to hear that! Let us know if you have any questions!
Nice work man! Thank you!
@SoundsAmerican
5 жыл бұрын
+Christian Alain Coral Glad you liked it! 👋
Great! Thanks!
@SoundsAmerican
2 жыл бұрын
You're welcome!
I fall in love with this chanel and app!
@SoundsAmerican
2 жыл бұрын
💚👋
Thank you very much! Very useful! Thanks for sharing!
@SoundsAmerican
7 жыл бұрын
+Erica Gonzalez , you're welcome! Thanks for watching!
@ericagonzalez5751
7 жыл бұрын
Hey! My EFL students suggested we write that comment after watching your video in class!
@SoundsAmerican
7 жыл бұрын
+Erica Gonzalez awesome! Please say hi to your students! This is probably the first group comment we received on our channel! 😁🖖
thank you❤
love these videos!
@SoundsAmerican
7 жыл бұрын
Thank you Jacqueline!
Thanks, man
Thank you so much!! I liked it a lot.
@SoundsAmerican
3 жыл бұрын
We're glad you like it!👋
thank you so much!, you help me :)
@SoundsAmerican
7 жыл бұрын
+Martha Vázquez , you're welcome! Glad to hear it! 😄
Thank you so much !
@SoundsAmerican
6 жыл бұрын
+Tib Duci , you're welcome!👋
Hola, te veo desde Perú gracias por tus vídeos, me ayudan mucho!!
@SoundsAmerican
6 жыл бұрын
+Julissa Ruiton glad you liked it! You're welcome!👋
thanks!
This video being useful for me when tried pronuncation.thank you very much
@SoundsAmerican
3 жыл бұрын
You are welcome!
Hello, Sounds American. You said something important for me in this video, "Content words" and "Function words". I will appreciate a lot, if you have time, to make a video explaining this information. On Internet there are a few information. But, I would like your point of view. 10Q!
O conteúdo é explicado de modo ilustrativo, dinâmico e fácil de ser entendido. O canal e o app são mto bons! 🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷
@rafaelacarvalho7565
2 жыл бұрын
Hey, Rita!Qual o nome do app? Não encontrei no google play =/
@vitortreed
2 жыл бұрын
@@rafaelacarvalho7565 english sounds
excelent👍👍👍
Professor, que aula maravilhosa, vai me ajudar muito, esse som do TH era muito difícil para mim, e pra mim fala AERTH. Obrigado por sua aula.
@SoundsAmerican
2 жыл бұрын
You're very welcome, glad it helped!
@dienison4209
2 жыл бұрын
Meu Deus um br aqui kakkakaksk. Eai man
@DumbPurpleDoodle
2 жыл бұрын
@@SoundsAmerican θ is also a Greek letter
I love that animations, thanks for sharing 💪💪💪💪💪
@SoundsAmerican
2 жыл бұрын
No problem 👍
Thanks so much that early help but I try my best thanks 🙏 again and again!!!!!
@SoundsAmerican
3 жыл бұрын
Happy to help!
American english is exelent program thanks for help us.
@SoundsAmerican
4 жыл бұрын
😊👋
Amazing, thanks a lot.
@SoundsAmerican
3 жыл бұрын
Glad you liked it!
gracias
Thank you
@SoundsAmerican
4 жыл бұрын
👋😊
wow how detail is it . thanks a lot!!!
@SoundsAmerican
5 жыл бұрын
+ pi pie You're welcome! Glad you liked it!
Thanks alot!
@SoundsAmerican
2 жыл бұрын
Welcome!
@Sounds American, thanks for such great videos! I always send them to my students for extra home practice. I was wondering if you have a video where you provide more "th+ consonant" combinations such as "thly" in "monthly", as I realise many students find it difficult to pronounce. Thanks!
@SoundsAmerican
2 жыл бұрын
Hello there! Thank you for sharing our videos with your students, we're glad that they are useful. Unfortunately, we don't have a specific video for those particular clusters, but we'll add it to our plan. Thank you for your suggestion!
Thanks 😍
@SoundsAmerican
3 жыл бұрын
No problem 😊
This is an amazing video... I wish Japanese subtitles were available for all of them!!!!
@SoundsAmerican
7 жыл бұрын
+Joe B , thank you! Glad you liked it! About the subtitles: yes, we know, they are being translated, so just stay tuned!
@SoundsAmerican
7 жыл бұрын
+Joe B , Japanese subtitles are now available for this video! :)
@joeb218
7 жыл бұрын
awesome! you guys rock! I'm an EFL teacher, sneakily teaching phonics to my kids. Your videos are helping them tremendously!
@SoundsAmerican
7 жыл бұрын
+Joe B, wow! Amazing! We didn't expect our videos to be helpful with that, but it's really great!
that's really good. I like it
@SoundsAmerican
6 жыл бұрын
+Márcio Hachmann, 😀👍🖖
As usual great
@SoundsAmerican
7 жыл бұрын
+Svetlana thank you! :)
thank you for beneficial video, I hope you show us how to make liaisons in American accents.
@SoundsAmerican
4 жыл бұрын
We definitely will!
Thanks from that explanation, principally stem from 4:60. Greetings from BR
@SoundsAmerican
3 жыл бұрын
You are welcome!
very good
Extremely helpful. Thanks!
@SoundsAmerican
6 жыл бұрын
+MagicVova , Glad to hear that!
very very good lesson!
@SoundsAmerican
4 жыл бұрын
Glad you liked it!
Great pleasure🥰
This is great
@SoundsAmerican
7 жыл бұрын
Thank you Gene!
@thuyheo1565
6 жыл бұрын
I’m
This one bit tough for me. But I liked it. Thanks again.
@SoundsAmerican
6 жыл бұрын
+Prabhakar Kumar, yes, this sound may be difficult for many people.
Words Hunting Contest. For example, "Anthony" (proper noun), but Anthony's nickname is "Tony" with the phoneme /t/. The /t/ of the nickname has come down by oral traditional from time when the diagraph "th" was pronounced /t/.
Great👍
SO NICE MY TEACHER
Hi.... I've learned a lot more and correct pronunciation through the (SOUNDS AMARICAN) channel! Infact, I can't just thank you by words! I hope you'll make more videos for 2020 ):
@SoundsAmerican
4 жыл бұрын
We surely will, stay tuned!
@misiraj9415
4 жыл бұрын
@@SoundsAmerican thanks a lot!
Please make a video z consonant sound. Thank u so much.
Words Hunting Contest, "Thalia". In Spanish is commonly spelled some names with the diagraph "th" sound. But pronounced differently. For example, we, as Spanish speakers, pronounce the name of the singer "Thalia" as /ta'lia/ but not /&a'lia/. /&a'lia/ is similar to say in English language, for instance, "She is very excited". (I'm sorry for my phonemic transcription).
I am still learning English, however there are consoants sounds too difficult, the sound of "th" is a them, but this video help me a lot, thank you teacher. Obs: If I wrong something, I would be grateful for correctly me.
excellent
@SoundsAmerican
3 жыл бұрын
Thank you! Cheers!
Waoo.. I am eager to watch this channel as a habit...
@SoundsAmerican
5 жыл бұрын
+Bensenodis HJ Please do :). 😄🖖
Thank you:)
@SoundsAmerican
6 жыл бұрын
+x2storm1 , you're welcome!
@x2storm1
6 жыл бұрын
Sounds American Hello~ What's your app's name? I really want to download it. i am using Android.
@SoundsAmerican
6 жыл бұрын
+x2storm1, oh, we haven't released it... But we plan to do it soon. We'll announce it here, so please stay tuned!
@x2storm1
6 жыл бұрын
Sounds American Of course, and i will wait for your app.:)
@SoundsAmerican
6 жыл бұрын
+x2storm1, 😀👍👋