More than once in the comments we have been asked to understand the interdental th sound. This is not at all surprising: th is one of the most frequently encountered sounds in the English language, while in Russian (and in many others) this sound simply does not exist.

How to pronounce it? How to fix common mistakes? How to “train your mouth” to pronounce correctly? Today we will answer these questions using videos, exercises, tongue twisters, words and examples from songs.

What sound do the letters th make?

Just let’s make it clear right away that th is not a sound. This is a combination of letters that can be read as two sounds: unvoiced /θ/, as in the word thanks, and voiced /ð/, as in the word that. It is with these signs that the interdental “th sounds” are indicated in transcription. But in the article I will sometimes write “th sound” for convenience.

Both sounds, voiced and voiceless, are articulated in the same way(lips and tongue are in the same position). Therefore, we will structure the work as follows:

1. First, let's learn the correct mouth position for both sounds;
2. Then we will analyze possible errors and find out how to correct them;
3. Then we will work on tongue twisters and words, each sound separately.

Yes, we don't have these sounds. But we have the concept of “lisp.” Do you remember Sid the sloth from Ice Age: “No, I f whether f com young, f to die!”. In English explanatory dictionary the word “lisp” (lisp) is interpreted as “a speech defect in which s and z sound like th in think And this respectively".

This video talks about lisps. I recommend watching: simple and humorous.

That is, it turns out that we need to pronounce Russian / s / with a lisp for the deaf / θ / and Russian / z / for the voiced / ð /. What do you mean, “lisp”? Say the word right now "compound". When pronouncing the /c/ sound, your tongue is BEHIND your teeth. Now put your tongue between teeth(th sound - interdental) and say again "compound". You will end up with something like a deaf th, as in the word thick.

Now do the same, but with the word "gap". As a result, you will get something like a voiced th, as in the word then.

Why do I say “similarity”? Because Russians are /s – z/ /s – z/, which means their lisp will be slightly different. Therefore, let’s take a closer look at the position of the articulatory apparatus.

How to pronounce th sound in English

Language spread out and tense, and its tip is located between the upper and lower teeth, forming a narrow flat gap between cutting edge of the upper teeth and the surface of the anterior edge of the tongue.

To learn the ideal positioning of the articulatory apparatus, I suggest you watch the video. It shows three life hacks:

2:08 – how to put the articulatory apparatus in the ideal position: open your mouth, place your tongue on top of your lower teeth so that the tip is directly behind the lower lip and slowly lower your upper teeth onto your tongue – try to pronounce the voiceless version of th, as in think.

2:52 - how to feel the necessary tension on the tongue: take a straw and place it between the tongue and the upper teeth - this way you will feel how strong the tension should be on the tongue.

3:36 – how far to stick your tongue forward: place your finger perpendicular to your lips (as when we ask you to be quieter) and stick your tongue out. The tongue should lightly touch the finger - this is the limit.

And don’t forget to repeat sentences and words after the presenter! This sound takes practice and more practice.

Pronunciation of the interdental sound th: video.

How to pronounce th sound in Russian

Now that you have figured out what position the articulatory apparatus should be in, let’s laugh together at the typical mistakes of Russian speakers in order to avoid them in practice (which, by the way, will come immediately after this point).

See, it's not all that complicated. 🙂 It’s quite possible to figure out exactly how this sound should be pronounced. Moreover, the Internet is full of educational videos on this topic (for example, watch, from which you will learn how to correctly pronounce th sounds in combination with other sounds).

What's the catch then? Why does this sound still cause difficulty? Because to accustom ourselves to pronounce it correctly when speaking quickly and spontaneously is a real feat for us. Exit - special exercises and a lot of practice.

Practicing the th sound in English: exercises and training

First tip: first, to make this “interdental position” more familiar to your tongue, deliberately exaggerate it! Stick your tongue out as far as possible, pronounce it in a very exaggerated manner, don’t be shy about looking stupid. More details in the video:

Another exercise that will help you get used to it: hum absolutely any melody (for example, “A Christmas tree was born in the forest”), replacing all the words with the sounds / θ / and / ð /.

A Christmas tree was born in the forest, it grew in the forest, it was slender green in winter and summer.
Thethethethethethethe,thethethethethe,thethethethethethethethethethethethethe.

Now that you are used to it, move on to practicing in words and tongue twisters.

English words with th sound: voiceless version

So, we adjust our mouth to the desired position and begin phonetic exercises for the sound th. Remember that this sound does not need to be softened before front vowels (such as i). The sound /θ/ is always only hard.

thought /θɔːt/

thrust /θrʌst/

through /θruː/

strength /strŋθ/

thrall /θrɔːl/

fourth /fɔːθ/

Great! Now you can try it on tongue twisters.

Tongue twisters in English with the sound th

• Th irty- th ree th ousand and th irty th inkers th ought th irty- th ree th ousand and th irty th oughts.
• Th ree th erapists th rew th ree th ermometers in th ree th ick th ickets of th orny th istle.
• I am th ankful for a th ousand th ings...for fai th full ear th, for bir th and brea th, for th thought and heal th and strength th and world th, and, may be, when it comes, for dea th.

To conclude our training, as usual, we will take an example from a famous song with the sound th. I settled on the song “Under My Thumb” by The Rolling Stones. Word thumb repeated throughout the song with a distinct pronunciation of the /θ/ sound.

Words with th sound in English: voiced version

Now we move on to the voiced sound /ð/. I would like to draw your attention again to the fact that this sound is always hard and does not soften in front of the front vowels.

loathe /ləʊð/

breathe /briːð/

other /ˈʌð.ə r/

there /ðeər/

whether /ˈweð.ər/

mother /ˈmʌð.ə r/

father /ˈfɑː.ðər/

brother /ˈbrʌð.ə r/

neither /ˈniː.ðər/

worthy /ˈwɜː.ði/

leather /ˈleð.ər/

together /təˈɡeð.ər/

another /əˈnʌð.ə r /

English tongue twisters with th sound

• Th ese bro th ersba th e wi th th ose bro th ers, th ose bro th ersba th e wi th th ese bro th ers.
• Th ey are always bo th ering Fa th er and Mo th er to do things for th em.
• Th ese clo th es are ra th er for th e southern wea th er, th ose clo th es are ra th er for th e northern wea th er.

By the way, I highly recommend learning another tongue twister. More precisely, these are many different tongue twisters in unvoiced and voiced th, which are set to music. Learn this song, and your articulatory apparatus will never forget the correct position. 🙂

And now an example from the song. For ringing th, I settled on the song “One Way Or Another” by Blondie. Word another repeated throughout the song and clearly articulated.

Results: reading th sounds in English

As you can see, there is nothing too scary about the th sound. The main thing is practice. You can save our article to bookmarks and periodically practice th sounds again and again. And so that nothing gets confused in your head, I propose to briefly summarize:

• The letter combination th gives 2 sounds: unvoiced / θ /, as in thanks, and voiced /ð/, as in that. Remember these icons: if you come across a new word, then turn to the dictionary to find out the transcription and hear the pronunciation.
• This sound is pronounced as a lisp / s / and / z / - the tongue is spread out and tense, the tip is located between the upper and lower teeth, forming a narrow flat gap between the cutting edge of the upper teeth and the surface of the anterior edge of the tongue.
• The main difficulty for us is to accustom our articulatory apparatus to this sound. Especially to pronounce it correctly during fast, fluent speech. Therefore, be sure to do some training for yourself: hum songs, practice sets of words and tongue twisters.

Don't switch: to be continued

We calculated that we had 24 sounds left to make out. Therefore, after today’s training, there are 22 left. Next time we will take on a new portion of sounds, this time – vowels. See you again! 🙂

We continue our pronunciation lessons from a native speaker - American Dave Skonda. In this lesson you will learn how to pronounce sounds correctly [Ө, ð] and get rid of typical mistakes in pronunciation T.H., characteristic of Russian speakers, the so-called "Russian accent"

My comment:
Pronunciation TH— causes particular difficulties and here’s why.
Sounds [Ө, ð] - are absent in Russian. We have similar sounds [s, z]. And therefore, when pronouncing, we replace English sounds with Russian ones and as a result we get « Russian accent". To get rid of it, pay attention to the difference in pronunciation. Here are two main mistakes.

• When pronouncing Russian [s, z] We don't blow air out. When pronouncing English [Ө, ð] - air passes freely through the gap between the tongue and the upper teeth. Put your hand to your mouth. Feel the difference.

• When pronouncing Russian [s, z] the tongue lies in a heap in the mouth. When pronouncing English [Ө, ð] - the tongue should lie flat, then the air will flow freely and the sound will be correct. To do this, you need to straighten your tongue and stick it out.

TH -sound / Pronunciation of TH (video lesson from native Dave Skonda)

Here is the translation of the lesson into Russian:

Two sounds that are very similar. The TH-sound:voiseless- [Ө] , voiced- [ð] .

Letter combination TH pronounced differently: deaf (without voice) - [Ө] and sonorous (with voice) - [ð]

OK, the T.H.-sound [ð] or [Ө] . Voiced T.H. — [ð-ð-ð] vibrates [ð-ð-ð]. You can feel the vibration right here [ð-ð-ð]. Don't squeeze too hard))

Let's figure it out. ringing sound T.H. pronounced with vocal vibration. When pronouncing it, you clearly feel the vibration if you put your hand on your throat. Just don't overdo it.

Voiceless T.H. — [Ө-Ө-Ө] . You touch here - no vibration [Ө-Ө-Ө] .Voiced [ð-ð-ð] , voiceless [Ө-Ө-Ө] . This is fun. You can do this all day.

Pronouncing a dull sound T.H. you will not feel this vibration. Like this. Isn't it funny? You can do this all day long))

Common mistakes with voiceless T.H. depending on your native language and country.

Practice

OK ma th, ma th. Are you studying ma th?
Th ank you. Th ank you. Th ank you very much.
Too th,too th. My too th hurts.
Ba th, ba th. I am going to take a ba th, not bat.
I like you r mou th, not I like your mouse.
Move your mou th.
We are th rough. Not we are true. Are we true? Are you true? th rough th rough

The main reason why people pronounce this or that sound incorrectly is that such a sound does not exist in their native language. Try saying the word "ma" th“- mathematics, you have such a subject as mathematics?
And now the word “too” th"tooth, and the expression my too th hurts - “I have a toothache.”
Ba th- bathroom. I am going to take a ba th, not bat. Don't pronounce the word "bathroom" like "bat."
I like your mou th, not I like your mouse. Don't say the word "mouse"
Move your mou th. Articulate.
We are th rough. - We're done. It should not be confused with the word “truth” - true.

First, voiceless T.H., tongue stuck out beyond the teeth. Don’t be afraid, just stick it out.
Push air out between the top teeth and the tongue Between - [Ө-Ө-Ө].
Practice this position, pushing air out, like you re exercising. Have fun with it. Get comfortable with it.
Tell your brain, your are creating a new habit. Tell your brain this is important.

First, by pronouncing the silent T.H., we stick the tip of our tongue between our teeth. We are not afraid to stick it out!! When pronouncing this sound, air should pass between the upper teeth and the tongue. Practice, good sound takes practice, you have to get used to it. It is very important.

Practice voiceless TH:

at the beginning of the word: th ank you, th ink, th ought
at the middle of the word: some th ing, no th ing, healing th y.
(I say naturally heal th y. And my tongue is very fast.)

at the end of the word: ma th, mou th, bo th.

Now let's practice pronouncing this sound

at the beginning of words: th ank you, th ink, th ought
in the middle of a word: some th ing, no th ing, healing th y.
(Word heal th y I say it quickly.)

And finally, at the end of the word: ma th, mou th,bo th.

Practice more
<….>
The T.H.-sound. Use your tongue, push it out. Don't be shy. Don’t be afraid to push out your tongue, to show your tongue. Be proud of your tongue. It is like a massage for your mou th. May be more massage for your tongue.

We are still training.

I will eat any th healing th y with my tee th. (2)
Th ank you for driving back and for th th is mon th. (2)
I th ink Be th is traveling nor th on the pa th. (2)

Pronouncing TH sound Be sure to stick out the tip of your tongue. Don't be shy, stick out your tongue. We need to show it to everyone, we need to be proud of it.

Voiced TH- [ð-ð-ð]. Mistakes some people make.

Practice

Th is, th is. Is th is yours?
Th here th ere. Are you going th here?
Th en, th en. Then will you go with us?
Brea th e, brea th e. You need to brea th e.
Th is is beautiful.
Look over th ere.
Improve your English than celebrate.
Th at's it, very good.
At the beginning of the word: th here th at th e
At the middle of the word: bro th er, ei th er, o th er
At the end of the word: smoo th, brea th e
That mo th er can't breathe th e. (2)
Ira th er like th is wea th er. (2)

Voiced T.H.. Pay attention to common mistakes. Do not hurry! Improve your pronunciation, then you will celebrate! That's it, right?
Now let’s say this sound at the beginning of words: th here th at th e
Now sonorous T.H. in the middle of a word: bro th er, ei th er, o th er
And finally, at the end of the word: smoo th, brea th e.

Remember push the tongue out beyohd the teeth. Push the air out over the tongue.
[ð-ð-ð] Touch your th roat. It vibrates. Now you know you have the correct voiced sound if it’s vibrating here.
It's not [Ө-Ө-Ө] . It's not voiced.
Now let's exercise. [Ө-Ө-Ө] You do this alone. No one's gonna see you. [ð-ð-ð]
Tell your brain to remember this.

Don’t forget that your tongue should be between your teeth and blow out the air.
Touch your throat with your hand, do you feel the vibration? If yes, then you are pronouncing the sound correctly.
See the difference with silent T.H. when you pronounce its vibrations you will not feel it.
Now let’s start practicing, pronounce it carefully, you are alone, and no one sees you.
You have to get used to this sound.

Pronunciation is rather fun. That's all for now.

Learning pronunciation is a funny thing. Here are some more phrases to practice.
If you try no th er technique, th ink about th e person you talking wi th.
Al th ough you are pretending, this method will make speaking more smoo th.
That's all for today.

You need to stick your tongue out for this sound. Please, don’t be shy or afraid. Be proud of your tongue. The biggest problem that I see the students are afraid to stick there tongue out. It feel uncomfortable for a while.
But you will get used to it. You might even like it.
Remember, in North American English we move our mouth more than many other countries.
Please, understand this and you will improve your pronunciation much faster.
Now remember the technique, exaggerate when you practice in order to make this habit stay with you.
So you don’t forget after time passes. We want your brain to remember these actions and make a new habit. OK?

And I remind you again.
Don't forget that sticking out your tongue is very important. Do not be shy. We should be proud. One of the typical mistakes students make is that they are embarrassed to stick out their tongue. It may be strange at first, but over time you will get used to it. You'll even like it. It's interesting that in North America They stick out their tongues more than in all other countries. Remember this and you will improve your giving.
And don’t forget, in order to remember how to pronounce a sound, you need to exaggerate it while you practice.
You must make this sound familiar to your speech so that after a while you do not forget it.
You must teach your brain a new sound and then you will pronounce it correctly.

Pronunciation TH -sound (exercises for daily practice)

Be sure to repeat these words and phrases three times a day for 5 days.

thank you, think, thought
something, nothing, healthy
math, mouth, both
I will eat anything healthy with my teeth.
Thank you for driving back and forth this month.
I think Beth is traveling north on the path.

there, that, the
brother, either, other
smooth, breathe
That mother can't breathe.
I rather like this weather.

[Ө, ð]

Pronunciation is rather fun.
If you try another technique think about the person you are talking with.
Although you are pretending this method will make your speaking more smooth.
That's all for now.

Have questions about th pronunciation- write in the comments!

Now, friends, we will learn how to read letter combinations th and pronunciation, perhaps the most difficult English sounds – [ð] And [θ] . As a matter of fact, the letter combination th conveys these two sounds, which in transcription are indicated by the symbols [ð] and [θ].

So, let's start with specific examples. Let's take the English word this (this, this, this). As you can see, this word contains the letter combination th. If you find this word in the dictionary, then opposite it you will see the following transcription [ðɪs]. Thus, in the word this, the letter combination th conveys the sound [ð]. How to pronounce it?

To correctly pronounce the sound [ð], you need to open your mouth slightly and stick out your tongue. Lightly bite your tongue with your teeth. Now pronounce the Russian sound “z”. You will get the same Russian sound “z”, but only with a very, very lisp. This is English [ð]. Check out these examples where th is read as [ð]:

this
that
the
weather
mother
breathe
bathe

Now let's turn to the word three (three), which also contains the combination th. If you check this word in the dictionary, you will find the transcription [θriː], i.e. th in this word conveys the sound [θ]. How should you pronounce this sound? Almost the same as the sound [ð], i.e. open your mouth slightly, stick out your tongue, slightly bite your tongue with your teeth and pronounce the Russian “s”. Please note: when pronouncing the previous sound we said “z”, and now we say “s”. The result is an overly lisping “s” sound. Here are words in which the combination th is read as [θ]:

three
throw
through
lethal
panther
teeth
breath
mouth

You can also watch the following video lesson below, in which a native speaker will teach you how to correctly read the letter combination th and pronounce the sounds [ð] and [θ].

, [ ð ] No.

The following exercises for the speech organs will help you understand how these sounds are pronounced.

• Place your tongue between your teeth and blow air. Make sure that your tongue is not tense and that your lips do not touch the edges of your tongue.
• Place your tongue between your teeth and then quickly remove it. Do this exercise several times.

When pronouncing sounds [ θ ] , [ ð ] the tongue is spread out and not tense, the tip of the tongue is between the teeth.

Sound [ θ ] is pronounced unvoiced, and the sound [ ð ] with a voice like a sonorous one. Remember that your lips should not touch the edges of your tongue. You should quickly move your tongue behind your teeth so as not to interfere with the pronunciation of the subsequent sound.

These sounds should not be replaced with Russian [ With ], [ h] or English [ z ] , [ t ] , [ d ] .

Sounds [ θ ] , [ ð ] can be heard in the following English words:

On the letter sounds [ θ ] , [ ð ] are designated by letter combinations th.

Sound [ ð ], as a rule, sounds in function words:

• in the definite article the
• in pronouns this, that, they, them
• at the end of words before the letter e: bath

If the letter combination th is the ending for the formation of ordinal numbers, then it is pronounced as [ θ ] , for example: tenth

note to the difference in the pronunciation of sounds [ θ ] - [ s ] - [ t ] :

Since there is no sound in the Russian language [ θ ], then they try to replace it either with the sound [ s] , on either [ t

Sound [ θ ] interdental. When pronouncing it, the tip of the tongue is between the teeth.

Sounds [ t ] , [ s] alveolar. When pronouncing [ t] the tip of the tongue comes into contact with the alveoli. When pronouncing [ s] the tip of the tongue rises to the alveoli.

Compare:

Due to the lack of sound [ ð ] in Russian it is often replaced with the sounds [ z ] , [ d], which leads to a gross violation of the meaning.

Sound [ ð ] voiced interdental consonant. It is pronounced the same as [ θ ], only with voice.

Sounds [ z ] , [ d] are voiced alveolar consonants.

Compare:

Hello my dear readers.

We all know very well that the sounds of English speech sometimes differ from Russian and do not always find analogues. And the problem of pronouncing certain sounds is faced not only by small children, for whom this is almost normal, but also by many adults who...

In connection with such an urgent problem, I have prepared a special lesson for you: tongue twisters in English. Tongue twisters for practicing sounds are waiting for you - with pronunciation and translation into Russian. At the end I added another interesting video on the topic).

Let's practice

I have no doubt that the most problematic sound for both children and adults is the interdental sound "th" . I have prepared for you several tongue twisters for interdental sounds with audio.

The second most popular group of sounds is whistling sounds. "s" . But I won’t leave you here either. Here are simple and short phrases for you.

It is equally important to use sound correctly "sh" . Catch easy-to-learn tongue twisters.

Quite problematic sounds sometimes become "f" And "w" . But don't worry, I took care of them too.

And last but not least the sound "j". It would seem that there should be no problems with it, but it still happens. So here are short and easy sentences for you.

Tongue twisters for children in video

Tongue twisters for adults and children in the video:

How to develop speech using tongue twisters

And now I want to tell you how best to work with English tongue twisters in order to achieve the effect in the shortest possible time.

• Divide the tongue twisters into sounds.

It sounds strange, of course, but it is true. Don't try to cover something that immediately causes a set of problems. Go in order. If you have problems with sound – th, then start with tongue twisters for this sound. Then, having mastered one, move on to the next group.

• Read the tongue twister carefully.

You shouldn’t immediately try to “shoot” everything that is there like a meteor. Will not work.

• Analyze each word: its meaning and sound.

This is not the most necessary part of preparation, but if you are already learning, why not memorize new vocabulary?

• And just now try to slowly read the entire tongue twister out loud.

Read the tongue twister slowly and confidently until you read it without a single mistake.

• Gradually increase your speaking rate.

And only now, when you have gone through all the stages, can you try to increase the pace of your speech and pronounce it as quickly as possible each time. But the important point here is that it is gradual.

Well, my dears, have you already tasted each tongue twister?)

And now more tongue twisters and also live English speech from the lips of two cheerful young people in this video:

I am sure that you are obedient students. If you want to receive even more information that will help you quickly and effectively improve your English, then subscribe to my blog newsletter. Before you know it, your English will completely change in a couple of months.

In the meantime, I say goodbye.

Until we meet again, my dears.

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