EnglishClub ESL Forums

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.

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