Rules for pronouncing "the"

Feb 03, 2010

Pronunciation of "the"
by: Anonymous

Good question. Yes, there are two pronunciations of "the".
Here's the rule:

When "the" comes before a vowel sound, we pronounce it with /i/ as in "bee" or "tea".
For example: the answer, the other and the inside. In these examples "the" is pronounced with /i/ because "the" comes before vowel sounds.

If "the" comes before a consonant sound, we pronounce it with the schwa sound /ə/. For example, the page, the start and the winner are all pronounced with /ə/ because "the" comes before a consonant sound.

-Charles Becker
Accent Reduction Specialist
New York, USA

Rules for pronouncing "the"

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Rules for pronouncing "the"