Question about the pronunciation of the word 'the'
When 'the' comes before a vowel sound, we produce it as a long 'thee'. But in some listening materials, I find some native English speakers do not pronounce 'the' according to this rule. Do you think their pronunciation is also acceptable? Thank you!I made a spelling mistake. It should be "we pronounce it as a long 'thee'" instead of "we produce it..."
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Answers · 20
4
There is no such rule. Either way is fine.
0
My teacher in speech taught me to pronounce it as 'deh' that usually some who speaks it as 'duh'. See a websters dictionary it will teach you to pronounce some word. ”Thee” has its own meaning, its an old word of 'YOU' used only addressing one person especially God.
0
The formal rule for the pronunciation of "the" is:
1. [thʊ] before words beginning with consonant sounds. Be careful. We generally say "[thʊ] United States" and not [thi:], because "united" starts with the same sound as "yellow."
2. [thi:] (sounds like "thee") before words beginning with vowel sounds, or when a speaker wants to stress the word for dramatic emphasis.
But this distinction in pronunciation is disappearing. Whenever I hear someone make the distinction, I have more respect for their education and training. The highly educated, actors, and broadcast media professionals still maintain this distinction, for the most part.
0
Hi Sanya, it's best that you actually hear the pronunciation. Go to
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7rifr_english-lesson-how-to-pronounce-the_school
0
There is no wrritten rule for the word 'the'. We use whichever pronunciation we feel like using. Their pronunciation is acceptable.
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