English Sounds The Two TH Consonants and

in this American English pronunciation

video we’re going to learn how to make

the two th sounds

these sounds are paired together because

they take the same mouth position is

unvoiced meaning only air passes through

the mouth and is voiced meaning you make

a sound with the vocal cords the very

tip of the tongue comes through the

teeth the air passes around the tongue

the tongue is relaxed there shouldn’t be

any pressure in the mouth or a stop

quality to this sound

just nice and easy the tongue has to

easily vibrate between the teeth so keep

the tongue soft and relaxed the lips

don’t affect this sound so they can be

transitioning to the next sound for

example in the thr cluster the lips will

round a little bit for the AR as you

make the th three-three be careful with

the tongue tip make sure it doesn’t come

too far forward it’s just the very tip

that should come between the teeth to

make the unvoiced th the tongue tip

absolutely has to come through the teeth

but the voiced th can be different when

it’s in an unstressed quick word like

these or the the tongue tip doesn’t have

to come through the teeth it can press

behind the teeth make sure the tongue

isn’t at the roof of the mouth or

pointing down but pressing right in the

middle where the teeth come together if

it’s not in the right position the sound

will be wrong the these

duh this tongue shortcut works in these

words because they’re unstressed so when

you don’t bring your tongue tip through

the teeth it allows you to make these

less important words quickly these duh

let’s look at these sounds up close and

in slow motion notice how it’s just the

very tip that comes out of the teeth the

tongue is relaxed the teeth surround it

but they’re not clamping down on it the

lips and face are relaxed

throw notice how the lips are starting

to flare for the R as the tongue comes

through the teeth for the unvoiced th

birthday keep in mind when you only

stick the very tip of your tongue out

the movement into other sounds isn’t as

hard as you might think watch the tongue

tip come in and flip up for the D

this is a quick move of the tongue that

you can practice over and over to make

it more natural

brother tongue tip through the teeth for

the voiced th lips and tongue are

relaxed

worth ending in the unvoiced th again

the lips and tongue look very relaxed

remember to keep your tongue relaxed and

soft when you practice this sound the

voiced and unvoiced th throw birthday

brother warth example words repeat with

me other other either either though

though Thursday Thursday nothing nothing

south south