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Th Sound: How to Say Voiced and Voiceless Th
Learn the th sound in American English: voiced and voiceless th, the mouth move, word lists, minimal pairs and a 10 minute daily drill you can start today.
The th sound is made by placing the tip of your tongue lightly against the back of your upper front teeth, or just between your teeth, and letting air flow out over it. English has two versions. The voiceless th /θ/ in “think” is only air. The voiced th /ð/ in “this” is the same mouth shape with your voice turned on. Most people who find th tricky are replacing it with a sound from their first language, and a few minutes a day is enough to make it lighter.
Practice with feedback: AccentPoof listens to you and scores this sound in your own sentences. Take the free 60 second check.
How to pronounce th, step by step
The mouth move is the same for both versions. Only your voice changes.
- Relax your jaw and open your mouth slightly.
- Bring the tongue tip forward until it touches the bottom edge of your upper front teeth. It can peek out a little. That is fine while you practice.
- Keep the tongue soft. It rests on the teeth. It does not press or close anything.
- Blow air gently over the tongue. You should hear a soft hiss, a bit like a quiet “f”, but coming from the tongue instead of the lip.
- For the voiced th, keep the same shape and hum. Put your fingers on your throat: you should feel a buzz.
The most common slip is pressing the tongue against the teeth or the gum ridge. That stops the air and turns th into a t or d. If you hear “tink” or “dis”, loosen the tongue and let the air keep moving.
Try it now: Say “ssss”, then slide your tongue forward until it touches your teeth while the air keeps flowing. The hiss changes into “thhhh”. Now add your voice and you have the voiced th in “this”.
Voiceless th and voiced th
The voiceless th /θ/ (often called the “soft” th) is only air. The voiced th /ð/ (the “buzzing” th) adds your voice. Spelling does not tell you which one to use, but a few patterns help:
- Small grammar words use the voiced th: the, this, that, these, those, they, them, their, there, then, than, though.
- Most content words starting with th use the voiceless th: think, thank, three, thing, Thursday.
- Between vowels, th is often voiced: mother, father, other, weather, together.
- Noun and verb pairs switch: breath /θ/ and breathe /ð/, bath and bathe, cloth and clothe, teeth and teethe.
Because “the”, “this” and “that” are among the words you say most, the voiced th shows up in almost every sentence. Getting it lighter there makes a big difference in how your English flows.
Th sound words to practice
Read each column out loud, slowly first, then at normal speed.
| Voiceless th /θ/ at the start | Voiceless th /θ/ in the middle or end | Voiced th /ð/ at the start | Voiced th /ð/ in the middle or end |
|---|---|---|---|
| think | nothing | the | mother |
| thank | birthday | this | father |
| three | method | that | brother |
| thing | author | they | other |
| thin | health | there | weather |
| thick | month | then | together |
| Thursday | math | those | breathe |
| throw | both | though | smooth |
Words with “thr” (three, throw, through) are harder because the tongue has to move from the teeth straight into the r. Say the th, pause, then the r. Close the gap little by little.
What your first language swaps in for th
Few languages have both th sounds, so most speakers use the closest sound they already know. Knowing your swap tells you exactly what to listen for.
| First language | Usual swap for voiceless th /θ/ | Usual swap for voiced th /ð/ | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portuguese (Brazil) | t or f | d | “tank you”, “fink”, “dis” |
| Spanish (Latin America) | t | d | “tink”, “dis” |
| Russian | s or t | z or d | “sink”, “zis” |
| Mandarin | s or f | d or z | “sree”, “dis” |
| Hindi | a dental t | a dental d | “tank”, “dey” |
A few notes that make this easier:
- Spanish speakers already say something close to the voiced th inside words like “nada” and “dedo”, where the d between vowels is soft. Speakers from much of Spain also use the voiceless th in words like “cero”. If that is you, you already have the move.
- Hindi speakers use dental t and d, with the tongue on the teeth. The place is right. The fix is to stop pressing and let air pass, so the sound becomes continuous.
- Russian and Mandarin speakers often keep the tongue behind the teeth, which gives s or z. Move the tip forward until it touches the teeth.
Recordings in the Speech Accent Archive at George Mason University show these patterns clearly: Russian, Mandarin and Hindi speakers reading the same paragraph each change “these” and “things” in the ways shown above.
Minimal pairs for th
A minimal pair is two words that differ in one sound. They train your ear and your mouth at the same time. See the full guide to minimal pairs for more.
| th /θ/ vs t | th /θ/ vs f | th /θ/ vs s | th /ð/ vs d | th /ð/ vs z |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| thank / tank | three / free | think / sink | they / day | breathe / breeze |
| three / tree | thought / fought | thick / sick | then / den | clothing / closing |
| thin / tin | thirst / first | thing / sing | those / doze | then / Zen |
| both / boat | death / deaf | mouth / mouse | though / dough |
Read one pair, record it on your phone, and listen back. If both words sound the same, slow down and check the tongue position.
A 10 minute daily th drill
Spread the practice over two weeks. Short daily sessions beat one long session.
Days 1 to 3: the shape. Two minutes of “thhhh” with and without voice. Then the start-of-word lists above, slowly.
Days 4 to 7: the pairs. Five pairs from the table that match your swap, three times each. Record and compare.
Days 8 to 10: grammar words in phrases. “the end”, “this one”, “that’s it”, “there they are”, “than that”. These are short, but they appear in nearly every sentence.
Days 11 to 14: real sentences. Try “I think there are three things to do this Thursday” and “My brother and my father both thank them”. Speed up only when the th stays soft.
When th is steady, the next sound most learners work on is the vowel in “ship”, covered in our guide to the short i sound. For a bigger picture of how one sound at a time adds up, read about accent reduction training.
Frequently asked questions
Is the th sound voiced or voiceless?
Both exist. The th in “think”, “three” and “both” is voiceless: only air. The th in “the”, “this” and “mother” is voiced: the same tongue position with your vocal cords buzzing. Put your fingers on your throat to feel the difference.
Why is the th sound hard to pronounce?
Most languages do not have it, so your mouth reaches for the nearest sound it knows, usually t, d, s, z or f. The move itself is simple. It just needs a few weeks of short practice before it becomes automatic in fast speech.
Do I have to stick my tongue out to say th?
No. While learning, letting the tip show a little helps you feel the right spot. In everyday American English, many speakers keep the tongue tip just behind the upper teeth. What matters is a light touch with air flowing.
Is it OK to say d instead of th?
People will usually understand you, especially in context, and some regional English accents use d or f for th too. Still, words like “they” and “day” or “three” and “tree” can get mixed up, and a clearer th makes your speech easier to follow in calls and meetings.
Sources
- Cambridge Dictionary: “think” (US pronunciation /θɪŋk/)
- Speech Accent Archive, George Mason University: Russian speaker 1
- Speech Accent Archive, George Mason University: Mandarin speaker 5
- Speech Accent Archive, George Mason University: Hindi speaker 5