'TH': Consonant Sound / ð / as in 'this'- American English Pronunciation

Learn how to pronounce the consonant sound /ð/ used in words like "them," "brother," or "though."
Improve your American accent with two phonetic exercises recorded by a professional speech therapist.
Practice pronunciation of the /ð/ consonant sound in commonly used words.
Check if you can find a surprise bonus at the end of the video!

Quick links:
• Consonant sound /ð/, as in "this:" 00:00
• How to make the consonant sound /ð /: 01:16
• Pronunciation exercise 1: 03:23
• Pronunciation exercise 2: 05:21
• Facts about the /ð/: 06:40

Related videos:
#AmericanPronunciation #ConsonantSounds #FricativeSounds
► Consonant Sound /ð/ as in "this" - this video

[THIS VIDEO HAS ENGLISH, SPANISH, JAPANESE, CHINESE, PORTUGUESE, AND VIETNAMESE 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 /ð/, as in the word "this."
You can also hear this sound in words like "than", "there", "other" or "mother."
We'll be using a special phonetic symbol - /ð/ - for this sound.

The English /ð/ sound occurs in less than 10% of the world languages and it's not present in the majority of European and Asian languages.
Therefore, this sound can be challenging for those non-native English speakers who don't have it in their native languages. They often distort it or replace it with more familiar sounds, such as /z/, /d/, /v/, or /θ/.
Keep watching to learn how to pronounce the /ð/ sound and practice it in words.
First, let's find out how to make this sound.

This sound is the voiced counterpart of the voiceless /θ/. This means that it's made the same way, but with adding a voice.

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 a noise. The stream of air should flow between your upper teeth and the tongue.
Note that the /ð/ is a voiced consonant sound, so you need to add your voice when pronouncing it.
Let's try saying it: /ð/, /ð/, /ð/.

Here are a few common mistakes that people make when pronouncing the /ð/:
1. Not pushing the tongue forward enough or pressing the tip of the tongue against the upper front teeth. This way you'll make a consonant that sounds more like a /z/.
- Put the tip of your tongue between your upper and bottom front teeth.
2. Stopping the airflow with the tip of the tongue. The /ð/ sound gets distorted and sounds more like /d/ or even /t/.
- /ð/ is a continuous sound; so keep the airstream flowing. You should be able to stretch the /ð/ out: /ð- ð- ð- ð/.

[Pronunciation exercise]
Now, let's practice the /ð/ 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. Make sure you repeat each word after the speaker, you'll be surprised how fast your pronunciation improves.
Let's begin.

• than
• that
• the
• their
• them
• then
• there
• these
• they
• this
• those
• though
• thus
• another
• bathe

Let's pause for a second and check on how you're making the /ð/ sound.
The tip of your tongue should be between your teeth.
The sound is made from the friction in the stream of air flowing between your tongue and the teeth. Don't forget to add your voice.

Let's continue practicing.
[Pronunciation exercise]

• bother
• breathe
• brother
• either
• father
• further
• gather
• leather
• mother
• northern
• other
• rather
• smooth
• together
• weather

You're done! Congratulations!

BTW, if you count all the words with the consonant sound /ð/, there won't be many of them. We're crazy enough to know that it's less than one percent of all English words.

However, most of them are function words; and function words are the most frequently used ones in American English. So the consonant sound /ð/ is present in practically every sentence.

You probably want to go back and practice now :)

Don't be shy, leave us a comment if you have any questions.
We love your comments!
Stay tuned and don't forget to subscribe!

[miguelcalejo]

You make simple, difficult things. Best way to illustrate the combination of the toungue and air flux.

[braso_craft]

I feel that I am improving with this sound and the other unvoiced one... The problem is that I don't know if I pronounce them correctly, but I keep practicing, following the way you pronounce them. Even though I have some insecurity with English sounds, I keep practicing them until I can pronounce them. These videos are good, since not only do you speak slowly (I use the subtitles in my language to follow along, as I can't understand many things and your slow speech allows me to read and follow the video at the same time), but the pronunciation of the sounds is detailed as well. Thank you for making them available to us, English language learners.

[ОленаРозводовська-вф]

I really appreciate your work! For the Ukrainians both consonant sounds /ð/ and /θ/ are quite difficult to pronounce. It is often heard /z/ and /s/ instead of these sounds. Your videos are extremely helpful. After practicing my pronunciation is becoming better and more natural. Thanks a lot!!!

[rainrain]

Thank you so much for your contribution to the English learning community.

[jalolaliyev]

Hello techer, I have been practising TH since You told me. Today my teacher said to me wow You improved TH. this is why thanks, And everyday I practice a lot for pronounciation

[unify]

Thank You. I think this is the best video for me to learn the ‘TH’ Sound.🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿.

[benpastrana]

I never thought that I've been doing it wrong. Thanks to this channel ❤️🇵🇭

[tasi_helicopter]

Thank you so much. I have always hated this sound because I had trouble pronouncing it. I speak Russian, so for me it is something between "з", "ф" and "в", I cannot connect them. But after this video I finally understood how to pronounce it and I even almost succeeded. Ok, I need more practice 😅

[randomVlog]

I just can't stop watching your all videos..

[ВладимирКиян-блогер.Никакойцен]

I’ve been in Egypt for a year now, studying Arabic, and improving my English, which I started learning in the fifth grade in 1975. I am now 61 years old.

[kimdaichau]

I have pronunced Th, thanks Sounds American , Your Channel so useful

[danerymiron]

Thanks so much for doing this. I have been working in T-mobile's customer care call center and their customers are rude with people's bad pronunciation so I started to watch your videos and now They can understand me more 😂🤙🏻🤙🏻

[k]

Thanks a lot. After practicing with your videos, now I can see the change in pronunciation. Thanks again.

[bidyadutta-devz]

Thank you very much. I can inhibit my inertia of English after seeing these videos and following the rules 👍👍

[gracamaria.]

Esse video é incrível...não vi nada
As veses me sinto incapaz por não fazer o som adequado....vou repetir quantas vezes for necessário...antes desse vídeo pensei em procurar uma Fonodiologo ....Agradecida vou seguir voce e compartilhar seu video....

[kostiantynsnihyr]

it difficult to pronounce smoothly. <thly> especially this part.

[hanatadesse]

i have been searching for this for long time .thank you so much!

[kth]

This is the best vid for learning the ð sound ever👍

[RaphaellyRaphaelly-KalimbaHike]

awesome!!! super!!!! now I can finally say it correctly!!! I cannot thank you enough! these videos showing the position of the tongue, and mentioning if it's voiceless, or with vocal cords being involved, it's the best in learning phonics, and speaking almost like a native. it's great!

[ahmedrahmane]

So brilliant as usual! I am Arabic that is why I find easy to learn because we have that sound. ذ 'th'e