This mini episode teaches you about the two pronunciations of the word “the.”
Episode 186 of the Everybody ESL podcast is a mini episode that teaches you about the two pronunciations of the word “the.” Send your questions about English and your suggestions for future episodes to everybodyESL@gmail.com! (And let me know if you’d like to record the introduction to a future episode.)
Intro
“Kia ora.* This is Ria from New Zealand, and you’re listening to Everybody ESL.”
(* Kia ora is a greeting in New Zealand.)
Welcome to episode 186of Everybody ESL, the podcast for everybody who wants to improve their English, practice their English, or just learn more English. My name is Ben, and I have a mini episode for you today, where I am going to teach you about one English topic. You can subscribe to the Everybody ESL podcast at Apple podcasts, on the Stitcher app, and wherever you find your podcasts. If you like Everybody ESL, leave it a good review so other people can find out about it too. And if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for me, please send an email to everybodyESL@gmail.com. Okay! Let's get on with this mini episode.
The episode
In today's episode, I want to teach you about the two pronunciations of the word the: t-h-e. You have probably realized that English speakers pronounce this word in two different ways. We pronounce it with two different vowels. Sometimes the word sounds like [thee], and sometimes the word sounds like [thuh].
Why? Why are there two different pronunciations? When do you pronounce the word like [thee], and when do you pronounce the word like [thuh]? Does it mean different things when you pronounce it in different ways?
The answer to that last question is no: the word does not have different meanings when we pronounce it in these different ways.
It is also true that there is a simple pattern that tells us when we pronounce this word [thuh] and when we pronounce this word [thee].
Before I tell you about that pattern, let me make something very clear: when I talk about these two different pronunciations of the word the (or [thee]), I'm talking about the way we pronounce this word in normal, casual conversation. I'm not talking about the way we pronounce this word, or other words, when we are trying to speak very slowly and carefully. I'm talking about the way the word sounds in normal, natural conversation.
The pattern is this: before a word that starts with a vowel sound we usually pronounce the word [thee]. And before a word that starts with a consonant sound we usually pronounce the word [thuh].
That's why I would normally talk about “[thee] elephant.” [Thee] elephant, not [thuh] elephant. I might say “[thuh] elephant” sometimes, but I think I would usually say “[thee] elephant.” Notice that elephant starts with a vowel sound.
And following the pattern, I would usually say “[thuh] cat” instead of “[thee] cat.” Cat starts with a consonant sound, so I would usually say “[thuh] cat.” “[Thee] elephant, [thuh] cat.” “[Thee] elephant, [thuh] cat.”
Does that make sense? I think that is a pretty simple pattern. Now, let me ask you this question: Which pronunciation of the do you think we usually use before the word hour: h-o-u-r? Hour. We usually pronounce the word [thee] before the word hour. Why? Doesn't hour start with a consonant? Doesn't it start with an h? H is a consonant. So why do we say “[thee] hour”? Shouldn't we say “[thuh] hour”? Well, remember what that pattern is. The pattern has to do with the sound that the next word starts with—not the letter that the next word starts with. The word hour starts with an h when we spell it, and h is a consonant. But the sound at the beginning of the word hour is a vowel. [a]. [our]. We don't pronounce this word [hour]. We pronounce it [our]. So it starts with a vowel sound.
What about the word one: o-n-e? Would you expect me to say “[thee] one” or “[thuh] one”? The word one starts with an o. That's a vowel. But the word one starts with a consonant sound. It starts with a [wa] sound, like a w sound. So we typically say “[thuh] one.” I would probably pronounce it [thuh] when I was saying a sentence like this: “That person is [thuh] one I was telling you about.” That person is [thuh] one I was telling you about. I would probably not say “[thee] one.”
That is how you know which pronunciation of the (or [thee]) to use when you are speaking normal, natural English.
Outro
And that's the end of episode 186 of Everybody ESL. Remember: if you have any questions about English, or if you have comments or suggestions about the podcast, or if you would like to record an introduction that I can use at the beginning of future episodes—the same way Ria recorded the intro you heard at the beginning of this episode—send an email to everybodyESL@gmail.com. I'll be back soon with another episode, and until then, keep going, keep practicing, and keep learning. Goodbye. I'll see you soon.