Pronunciation - TH - through, weather, lethal, breath, breathe

Hey, guys. I'm Alex. Thanks for clicking, and welcome to this pronunciation lesson on

the "th" sound. So in English, "th" actually has two different pronunciations. Today, we're

going to look at those pronunciations and practice some words with them, and also look

at the "th" sound in different parts of the word and how we can pronounce it. All right?

So, we have this sound, which is "th", "th", "th". So to make the "th" sound, I know it

seems a little silly, a little funny, but you basically put your tongue between your

teeth like this, and you blow air. So it's just "th", "th", "th". Okay?

So let's look at some words with this sound. Here, we have the "th" sound in the first

position in words like "three", "throw", "through". Okay? So everybody, please listen and repeat.

"Three", "throw", "through". Okay, good.

Okay, here we have the "th" sound in the second position. So we have two words here. We have

"lethal" and "panther". So everybody, listen and repeat to the sound. "Lethal", "panther".

Okay, let's try that one more time. Make sure you get "lethal". Not "lethal" or "lethal".

It's "lethal", "lethal". Okay, good. And "panther", "panther". Okay.

So again, try to avoid saying "panter" or "lethal" or anything like that. Focus on that

"th" sound. I know you feel funny, but every English speaker does it, and they probably

feel funny, too, if they really paid attention to it.

Okay, and finally, in the third position, we have "teeth", "breath", "mouth". Okay? So

everyone, please listen and repeat. "Teeth", "breath", "mouth". Okay, one more time. "Teeth",

"breath", "mouth". Excellent. Okay, guys. So again, that's the "th" sound.

And if you're wondering, "What is this funny symbol up here?" and "What is this funny symbol

up here?" These are the phonemic symbols for words -- for sounds, should I say, in English.

Okay? They're part of the phonemic alphabet, the phonemic chart. Okay?

All right, here, this is another "th" sound, and this one is not like this one. It's similar

in that you put your tongue between your teeth, like this, "th", like this. But this one,

there's more of a vibration, so your tongue actually has to vibrate a little bit. So this

one is not "th", but "th", "th", "th". Think of like a motorcycle a little bit, "th", "th".

Okay? So let's practice this sound with these words, with the sound in different positions.

So here, we have "this", "that", "the". Okay? Listen and repeat. "This", "that", "the".

Okay, excellent. So if you're saying, again, "dis" or "dat" or "da" or anything like that,

try and change that today. Try and focus and make this sound. One more time. "This", "that",

"the". Very good. Okay? And exaggerate, please. Okay? The best way to learn difficult pronunciation

is to exaggerate when you're learning it for the first time.

Okay, here we have two words where the sound is in the middle position. So we have "weather".

Okay? "Weather", "mother", "mother". Okay? So let's listen and repeat. "Weather", "mother".

Okay? And again, focus on that "th" sound. And finally, we have the sound in the third

position. We have two verbs here. We have "breathe", "breathe", the action of breathing.

All right? "Breathe", okay? And "bathe", right? When you take a bath, you bathe. So everyone

listen and repeat. "Bathe". Sorry. What did I do there? I said "bathe" when I pointed

to "breathe". One more time. Let's try that again. Okay? And good for you if you caught

me. "Breathe", "bathe". Okay, excellent.

Okay, guys. So one more time. We're just going to go through all the words and make sure

you can tell the difference between the two sounds. So first, let's just start with the

sounds themselves. We have "the", right? "The", "the", "the". Okay, so let's look at the "the"

words. So just listen and repeat one more time. "Three", "throw", "threw", "lethal",

"panther", "teeth", "breath", "mouth", "this", "that", "the", "weather", "mother", "breathe",

"bathe". Okay, excellent.

So if you guys would like to test your understanding of these two sounds and recognizing which

one you use -- and I'm going to use these vocabulary words in the quiz as well so that

you know, "Is it this one or is it that one? I'm not sure." Okay? So again, if you want

to test your understanding of these sounds, you can check out the quiz on www.engvid.com.

Good luck, guys.