“The” is probably the word you will use the most of any in the English language. After all I used it four times in the first sentence! But you might have noticed that English speakers don’t always pronounce it in completely the same way.
Don’t worry if you’re confused about this. In fact, there are two ways to pronounce “the” and they are both correct. However, it depends on the sentence.
The first way is with an “uh” sound at the end, like this: “thUH”. This is how you are likely to hear it pronounced most of the time.
The second way is with an “ee” sound at the end, like this: “thEE”.
So when do you use each one?
Well, it depends on the first letter of the next word.
If the next word starts with a consonant, you should use “thUH”. For example, “Are you going to the shop?” or “I got out of the car” would be pronounced “Are you going to thUH shop?” and “I got out of thUH car.”
If the next word starts with a vowel sound, you should use “thEE”. For example, “The apple is red” and “The moon goes around the Earth” would be pronounced “ThEE apple is red” and “ThUH moon goes around thEE sun”.
There is one exception. If you want to really emphasise something, you can use “thEE.” Particularly when you want to make it clear that the thing you are talking about is the best, or the most important, or the only one of something.
So for example, if someone said “Russia is one of the biggest countries in the world,” and you replied “No, it is the biggest country in the world”, you would place emphasis on the word the – and you would also pronounce it thEE.
Other examples might include:
“That bar is the place to go for good music” (That bar is thEE place to go for good music”)
“Taking this class was the reason I applied to this university” (“Taking this class was thEE reason I applied to this university”)
“Vogue is the original fashion magazine” (“Vogue is thEE original fashion magazine”)
So that’s a simple explanation of how to make sure you are always using the right pronunciation. However, this is not a rule that most native English speakers ever learn. It’s simply something that they do naturally as they speak!
What’s more, a person’s accent can affect the rule. Sometimes the way people say “the” is influenced by where they come from. For example, Irish people tend to use “thEE” more often when they speak.
All of this means that you will sometimes hear native English speakers say “thUH” in front of a vowel sound or “thEE” in front of consonant when it feels natural to them. It’s not a strict rule and you don’t need to worry if you mix it up sometimes. But generally, if you remember to do this, you will sound much more fluent and natural when you speak English.
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