Pronunciation of "the" before some words

Members help members on grammar, vocab, pronunciation...

Moderator: EC

Post Reply
innogen
Member
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Feb 02, 2012 1:11 pm
Status: Learner of English

Pronunciation of "the" before some words

Post by innogen »

Learners of English are told that the word "the" has two pronunciations: (IPA: ðə) and (IPA: ði ).

Could a native English speaker confirm the correct pronunciation of "the" in the following cases:

(1) United States of America
(2) United Kingdom
(3) United Nations
(4) university

(5) U.S.A.
(6) U.K.
(7) U.N.
User avatar
Joe
Admin/Teacher
Admin/Teacher
Posts: 1797
Joined: Thu Dec 18, 2003 6:56 am
Status: Teacher of English
Location: England

Re: Pronunciation of "the" before some words

Post by Joe »

In all seven cases the pronunciation is (IPA: ðə), as in "thuh" not "thee".

Although they all start with a written vowel (u), they also start with a consonant sound (y).

yooniversity
Yoonited Kingdom

This page should help:
http://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/the.htm
Post Reply