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The pronunciation of the word "the"

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Anonymous, 257 days ago

This is incorrect. According to the British, the word, "the" certainly has two pronunciation, it has nothing to do with ESL speakers!

Anonymous, 204 days ago

You're right. "The" would be pronounced "thee" in those examples. The other responders didn't understand your use of "Di" (and neither do I - probably a typo).

Related discussions

Anonymous, 172 days ago

yes,for example when Bush was telling is speech he was saying di government as if the government has in front a vocal ..

Anonymous, 153 days ago

If you look in a dictionary: the¹ play_w2("T0146800") (

before a vowel;

before a consonant)

Or, "thee" before a vowel and "thuh" before a consonant. It's not a rule we learn in school, but it's something we seem to "absorb". The reason for the different pronunciation is so that the language flows more smoothly.

French does that a lot! For example, les tables (don't hear the "s"), but les enfants (you hear the "s" as a "z" sound to make it not hiccup!)...

Anonymous, 57 days ago

The pronouciation of "the" depends on if it preceeds a vowel or a consonant. You say "thee" in front of vowels and thuh in front of consonants. You never EVER say thuh in front of a vowel sound!

So it is:

The apple is pronounced "Thee apple"

The question is pronounced "Thuh question"...

Thee example

Thuh machine

Thee umbrella

Thuh table

Anonymous, 54 days ago

What about The United States (of America)? Thuh or Thee? Some say that when U is pronounced as "you", then the consonant rule applies, and when the U sounds like "uh", then the vowel rule applies. Is this a grammatical rule, or a regional variation, or a misunderstanding?

Mister Micawber +

920169 Mon, 28 Sep 09 12:46 PM

when U is pronounced as "you", then the consonant rule applies, and when the U sounds like "uh", then the vowel rule applies.”

That is right. It is an observation of sound change in word flow, not a rule of grammar.

Mister Micawber

Joined on Wed, Aug 4 2004

Yokohama

Veteran Member 30,760

'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master-- that's all.'

Vowels, Consonants, Pronunciation, Speaking

Anonymous, 39 days ago

This is a pet peeve of mine. I hear more and more on the radio, in television and film the lack of proper pronunciation of the word "the" when it precedes a word beginning with a vowel sound. The result of saying "the" with a schwa ending before a vowel sound is a very awkward sounding combination without flow. To me it sounds like the speaker has a distinct lack of intelligence.

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The pronunciation of the word "the"

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