Transcript
Hi there, Jay here. Welcome to Everyday English with E2. Each week, we focus on English grammar, vocabulary or pronunciation.
In this episode, we are going to focus on a very tricky sound that many people have trouble with because it’s very particular to English – that sound is ‘ttttthhhhh’ as in thirty, something, or strength. Notice how this th sound can come at the beginning of the word like thirty or in the middle of the word like something or at the end of the word like strength. In this episode, we’re going to practice saying the th sound at the end of the word.
Remember, if you need extra practice on your pronunciation – you can do this by signing up to www.e2english.com
Let’s get straight into it!
So, first of all, how do we make the th sound in English? Well, to make this sound you need to put your top teeth on your tip of your tongue. You need to do this! Poke your tongue our a little bit and rest your top teeth on top of your tongue.
Now that you’ve done that, there are actually two ways to make this sound – one without breath and one with a burst of breath. Let’s practice the first way which is without breath. Repeat after me…
this
that
these
those
the
they
them
there
When you say these words there is very little or almost no breath coming out of your mouth. The sound happens in your mouth. Put your hand in front of your mouth and let’s do it again, and this time pay attention to the fact that you can’t feel your breath against your hand. Repeat after me…
this
that
these
those
the
they
them
there
Now, let’s make the other type of sound. This time you’re going to rest your top teeth on your tongue again. That’s right! Poke out your tongue a little bit and put your two front teeth on your tongue. Now this time I want you to push breath out of your mouth like this: thhhhhh →
Ready! Let’s say some words with the thhhhhh → sound. Repeat after me…
thing
think
theory
thought
three
thirty
thirteen
thirsty
through
thank
thistle
thud
thump
thug
thesis
Now, it’s important to make sure you’re not saying the wrong sound. This sound is NOT a d sound; it’s not
ding
dink
deory or
dought
It’s also not a F sound. It’s not:
fing
fink
feory
fought
Those sounds are close to or similar to the TH sounds but they are wrong. They may be easier for you to make but if you speak to a native English speaker they will sound not quite right and by changing the shape of your mouth and putting your top teeth on your tongue you can say the sound accurately.
Okay, so we’ve learned how to say the breathless th sound and we’ve learned to say the th→ sound using a burst of breath. Now we’re going to do something challenging. Are you ready? We’re going to say the explosive th→ sound at the end of the word, not at the start and not at the beginning.
Let’s start with the LTH sound. Ready? Repeat after me:
health
stealth
wealth
One more time:
health
stealth
wealth
Very good. Let’s do the PTH sound now. Repeat after me:
depth
depth
depth
Cool! There’s only one of those in English.
Remember… if you need help with your pronunciation then check out www.e2english.com where we have full pronunciation courses with AI feedback so you can rapidly improve the clarity of your spoken English.
This one is hard, ready? It’s the FTH sound. Repeat after me:
fifth
fifth
fifth
Make sure you’re making the th→ sound.
Let’s try another one. This time it’s the NGTH sound. So the NG sound comes from your throat and then it moves up to the TH→ sound. Repeat after me:
strength
strength
strength
length
length
length
This next one is a little easier, I think! It’s the MTH sound. Repeat after me:
warmth
warmth
warmth
Can you hear the th→ sound at the end? Can you hear the little th→ sound – the breath being pushed out at the end?
Let’s now do the NTH sound. We use this one with numbers. Repeat after me:
seventh
ninth
tenth
fifteenth
And… month
Next up we have DTH. Repeat after me:
width
breadth
hundredth
One more time…
width
breadth
hundredth
Now, if you find any of these sounds particularly difficult, don’t be lazy. Make sure you skip back and try the sound again. Remember that if you do sign up to the pronunciation courses on E2 English we have a full course with AI feedback that will help you to improve your pronunciation.
Ok, let’s do the TTH sound. There’s only one word for this sound. It’s:
eighth x 3
Okay, and we’ll finish with some really tricky sounds… these are sounds that even native English speakers struggle to say… they are rare, but let’s practise them anyway.
sixth x 3
twelfth x 3
thousandth x 3
Alright, well done! Now you just have to have the confidence to really say those sounds in real life with people, with native speakers. Saying those sounds properly is the difference between pronouncing the word correctly and mispronouncing the word.
Awesome. Thanks for listening. Make sure you subscribe to this podcast, share it with your friends and give it a rating. And remember to check our www.e2english.com for our online pronunciation courses powered by AI.
See you next week!
