‘TH’ Sounds

That very awkward /th/

Many Brazilians seem to have a problem with this /th/ sound because it does not exist in Portuguese. They then pronounce it as /d/ or /t/ at the beginning of a word or as /f/ at the end of a word.

There are actually two /th/ sounds:

Group 1: The unvoiced /th/

thirsty, think, through, thanks, nothing, bath, math, truth, both, teeth, three, etc.

This /th/ sound is unvoiced. This means that the sound is made in the front of the mouth.

You thus do not need your vocal chords in the throat.

Students normally do not have a problem to pronounce this sound at the end of a word, but usually when it’s at the beginning of a word, like, thanks, think, thought, etc.

Let’s look at the following:

I normally ask my students to pronounce the word ‘both’ and feel the position of their tongue (in relation to their teeth) on the /th/ sound?

Example: bo-th – in which position does the tongue end on the /th/ sound? That is the same position that the tongue must be when you start the word “th-ink”

For example: bo-th (position of tongue)-th-ink = bo-th-ink, = bo-think = – think

This sound might feel a bit odd at first, but with the correct practice you will become perfect.

Group 2: The voiced /th/

The, these, those, there, that, thus, then, brother, mother, etc.

These words contained the voiced /th/ sound. It is the unvoiced /th/sound with a vibrating sound – you can feel this vibration – if you touch your vocal chords lightly as you say the words.

Note: You can do exactly the same exercise as above – with the word “both” – but this time when you end on the unvoiced /th/ sound, you add a vibration – like the buzzing sound of a bee.

And that buzzing /th/ will be the starting sound of the words starting with the voiced /th/

This will take quite a bit of practice, but your pronunciation will improve dramatically once you’ve mastered this sound.