Voiced [th] as in The

Sound formation instruction:

To pronounce the voiced /th/ sound, keep your mouth slightly open so there is just enough space to place the tip of your tongue between your upper and lower teeth. Flatten the tip of your tongue and touch the tip of your upper teeth. Push out a voiced air over the tongue through your teeth. Make sure your voice is on (vocal cords are vibrating).

Contrasting sounds:

/th/		/d/
then		den
them		dam
their		dare
though		dough
this		Dis
they		day
thy		dye
those		dose

/voiced-th/		/voiceless-th/
thy		thigh
these		thesis
than		thane
them		theme
they've		thief
though		thou
thence		thanks

Words:

1	than	2	that
3	the	4	theirs
5	them	6	themselves
7	then	8	thence
9	there	10	there’s
11	thereafter	12	thereby
13	therefore	14	these
15	they	16	they’d
17	they’ll	18	they’re
19	they’ve	20	this
21	those	22	thou
23	though	24	thus
25	thy	26	although
27	bathe	28	bathing suit
29	bother	30	breathe
31	brother	32	brothers
33	clothing	34	either
35	father	36	feather
37	gathering	38	lather
39	mother	40	neither
41	other	42	rhythm
43	smooth	44	smoothest
45	soothing	46	together
47	weather	48	withdrawing
49	within	50	without
51	withstand	52	worthy

Sentences:

1. They went to the party together instead of going by themselves.
2. The only other bathing suit the store had was not in my size.
3. My little brother did not stop bothering me until I took him to the park.
4. The girl asked her mother for advice more than she asked her father.
5. Although the cars the salesman presented were cheap, neither one appealed to me.
6. He knew there was another way to solve the math problem than what the teacher showed.
7. Their scarves were so tight around their necks they could barely breathe.
8. There were so many feathers on the floor that he gathered enough to make a pillow.
9. Her brother bought her a motorcycle even though it wasn’t her birthday.
10. She loved his smooth face and soothing voice.
11. People without rhythm usually dance by themselves.
12. The roof was so thick it could withstand any weather.
13. He thought it was worth it to buy a new home theater system.
14. Without the right medication, she always felt tired and withdrawn.
15. He was thankful the bar was within walking distance from his house because he was always thirsty.

Story:

My brother and I drive each other crazy. Even though he is almost 30 years old, he likes to play pranks on me all the time. Last summer he glued feathers onto my yellow bathing suit while I was asleep on the beach. Another time, he told me he gave away $300 worth of my new clothes to charity. I had to take deep breaths to keep myself calm each time.

It bothered me that I could not trick my brother because he knew when I wasn't telling him the truth. But one day, I finally got my revenge. For my dog's third birthday, I baked natural dog treats in my oven. Anyone who breathed in the smells of my kitchen thought that I was baking bread. I had to convince my friends to stay away from the kitchen, otherwise they would have eaten the treats. At first glance, the treats looked like small muffins.

I was spreading a thick layer of smooth peanut butter on top and adding sprinkles when my brother walked in. He said he was very thirsty after playing basketball with his friends. I asked him if he was hungry and offered him a muffin so he could let me know what he thought of it. Without hesitating, he ate the muffin in two bites, and he thought the muffins were gross. I told him that maybe the muffins were gross because they were meant for dogs. Ever since then, he hasn't trusted me with food, especially food that I bake from my oven.

english pronunciation exercises by EnglishSecret.com is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at www.EnglishSecret.com.