How to Pronounce "The"

GG,
Two main words from your "reference material" are "guide" and "contemporary". A guide does not a RULE make, and the second you say contemporary ANYTHING, you open the door up for ALOT of opinions that don't necessarily have any grammatical basis!

I think this is bogus. "Thuh" always works. When uttered quickly prior to a vowel, it can morph into something "thee" sounding, but it seems wrong to suggest that it's a rule.

I'm late to the party, but the actual sound of the "long u" is a diphthong; a combination of "ee" and "oo." There's no way that turns into a consonant; therefore,
"thee" universal...

And how did illegal and immediately become "eeellegal" and "eeemediately?"

I believe that for many speakers, this just comes naturally. This has been my experience when listening to articulate speakers (Americans excluded, no offence!)

Oh no! And I had a typo in my comment about the typo. What I meant to say was the following:

Heads up, GG! There are bunched-up quotation marks in the sentence that starts like this:

"If the word following ""the..."

Heads up, GG! There's are bunched-up quotation marks in the sentence that starts like this:

"If the word following ""the..."

I wonder how to use the TYPE and KIND. If anybody could give me something about.

Would you please distribute this to every broadcast outlet in the U.S. and Canada? And to every politician in the same countries? If I hear one more self-important broadcaster or politician try to enhance his/her self-importance by saying 'thee' unnecessarily (and 'eh' instead of 'uh' as well), I can't be responsible for my actions.

I use "thee" to change the meaning of the sentence.

Compare:
That is thuh problem.
and
That is thee problem.

Thee emphasizes the singularity of the issue in this case. It implies that there's only this problem, and everything else is taken care of. Maybe that's not what the books say, but I bet other people use it to change the connotation of their sentence, too.

I find this rule to be useless. As linguistics major said, speech is different than writing. In my own speech I do not use that rule, it just sounds "right" in certain cases, often which break the rule. I doubt anyone would think I speak incorrectly. People should be allowed to speak how they want. Speech is something that is unique among each person. Wouldn't the world be very boring if everyone spoke alike?

The rule about "thuh" before a vowel doesn't allow for an easy flow when the word that follows begins with a long "e" such as "eagle" "emotional" "ear". I honestly can't believe that there is a rule for this when people can't use the reflexive case correctly or don know when to use objective or nominative pronouns.

Is it ever proper to pronounce the article "a" as "ay?" as If so, are there rules for when?

Glad I found this site. Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My daughter sang in the school's a capella choir when she was in college. In later years, when she was directing the church choir back home, she said she had been taught this rule by her professor. When we tried it, it made the choir come together and sound very natural while singing.

My take is that "the" with a schwa ending is used when it is as an unaccented syllable in the phrase, which is most of the time. Even if the next word begins with a vowel.

Interesting! I'd never heard that there was a rule about 'thee'/'thuh'. To be honest, 'thuh apple' sounds just as natural to me as 'thee apple', though I agree the second flows better. Perhaps New Zealanders are just corrupt.

Yes, Steve, I agree with this "historic" view, but, I'd still like to know why this incorrect - and I'm certain that "thee" and "an" pronunciations prior to a vowel sound is the correct one - form is becoming so prevalent.

Like your first poster, I find many professional presenters on TV do sound like children when it comes to the a/an use and "the" pronunciation.
My own feeling is that the whole point of these two "rules" is to make speeking English easier or more fluent. It's easier to say an apple rather than a apple, and thee apple rather than thuh apple etc. etc.
Therefore, when it comes to a historic vs an historic I must go for an historic no matter what the "rules" say because it's easier to say!

I posted on this subject a week or so ago and didn't get any response. I'm 68 and when I was taught English Language at school the correct pronunciation of the definite and indefinite articles was made clear to me. I fail to understand why the incorrect pronunciation by broadcasters, both English and American is becoming increasingly prevalent. It would appear to me that these said broadcasters (CNN and BBC World provide excellent examples of this) are being "schooled" to use this form. Can anyone at least comment. They sound like my children did when they were first learning to speak. "Daddy can I have a egg for breakfast?" or, "The(thu) other kids don't like me."
And yes, I'm a pedantic old ******!

Linguistics Major,

I'm not surprised by your comment because linguistics is inherently descriptive. Linguists embrace how people really talk and write, not what the rules are that society tries to place on how people talk or write. (I find linguistics fascinating and fun, by the way.)

I was not taught the "thee"/"thuh" rule in school, and I still struggle with it today, but it is taught in many schools, and my source for the rule is "The American Heritage Guide to Contemporary Usage and Style," 2005, p. 462. It is a real rule.

I agree with Mitdu.

"A father's a wonderful, good-natured soul. Whenever it comes to family things, he shares them with pleasures and pride."

Sunday school had me memorized the above to recite on Father's Day. I refused to go on stage at the last minute because no one was able to explain whether I use "'uh' father's" or "'ay' father's".

I was 6 years old that time, and I still don't know what rules to follow... I'm 33 years old now.

This is certainly not the case for actual human speech as people will simplify one aspect of a language while making others more complex. The word "the" has no special rule as to how it should sound before a word just because the following word starts with a different vowel. People need not confuse written language with spoken language as they are not two in the same. There is no correct way to speak -- [ð?] and [ði] are said by people in various different ways that do not apply to the "rule" that this website states. Because many people do not follow this rule and use [ð?] when this claims people should use [ði], [ð?] is just as likely as [ði] otherwise the language itself would not permit this.

Oh, I'm so pleased to see this written down. I was complaining to friends about it only recently and they were less than convinced. I live in a country with a rich history of mispronunciation and it drives me mad to hear "thu Australian ..."

I was taught that this rules applies only when singing. In speech contest we were taught to not pronounce the as "thee" anytime.

How is this rule any different from the a/an rule?
How you pronounce it is how it will sound, so then it's the same thing as the a/an rule.
And I agree with others that "thee" can be used for emphasis, regardless of the sound that follows.

Great examples GG!

For your next act, could you guide those who pronounce the article "a" as a long vowel, rather than rhyming with "uh"?

Newscasters seem to think saying "ay house" makes hem more authoritative. Politicians also overuse "ay" before nouns to sound more official.

But the original speakers had plenty of authority when they said "I have a dream" or "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn." Say those famous phrases with "ay" instead of "uh"--and see how awkward it sounds!

Ahhh. I feel so much better.

I had this debate a year ago when working out 3 part harmonies with band mates.

The guys were singing "thee" or "thuh" interchangeably and it was a bit of a problem. I trotted out this rule and they both looked at me like I was crazy.

Guy musicians in Jersey. Guess I shouldn't have expected them to think I was a Grammar Goddess.
Thanks!

For those of you that are saying that the word universal doesn't fit the rule: VERY slowly say the word to yourself. It starts with a "y" sound, just like "youth" and "you're." It doesn't seem that way, because the "u" throws us off, but it does fit the rule being explained here.

The "thuh" controversy is really interesting. I am 65 and do not believe this was ever taught in the California schools I went to. But I do know that if I used "thee" correctly, I would be stopped mid-sentence as if I were crazy.

Nice post, I didn't know that.

Wow. I never knew there was a rule.

Also, this makes some sense out of an old David Letterman episode I once saw, which oddly enough, I was thinking about this morning before I read this article.

David is interviewing young children who have science projects or something. Maybe they were winners in some contest, not sure.

Anyway, David says to one kid, "So this is thee science project..." and the kids says, "No. This is THUH science project." And the audience breaks out in laughter, probably because, like me they had no idea there was a rule and found it completely random.

Or maybe it was random. You know kids.

This rule seems a bit odd.

If I say "I had 'thuh' MRI at General Hospital yesterday" that sounds fine to me, and I've always heard it that way... which of course doesn't mean it's right.

The only two circumstances where I (and others) seem to use "thee" is either (a) because they're being somewhat condescending, or (b) they are emphasizing that the object of the "the" is a specific instance of the object -- such as "He took 'thee' winner over to the winner's circle" or (c) in conjunction with "best", as in "He is 'thee' best speller in the state".

This is not a problem for us in Sweden - it's what we teachers teach. :-)

nice post. i would just add that this is a general rule, not hard and fast. there is a lot of "free variation" that goes on, especially when you start taking into account people's regional accents, whether english is their first, second, or third language, and idiolect.

I'm with Richard. "Universal" does not begin with the sound "yuh" -- at least not in any accent or dialect I've ever heard. It's "yoo" = long u sound.

I get confused which to use before "history." I see it used differently. "Thuh" history book, and "thee" historical society. Which is right/wrong?

but sheena, couldn't one say universal has a "long U" sound?

Richard, "universal" begins with a consonant sound (yuh), so that's why you use "thuh" even though it's spelled with a vowel.

My friends and I are debating about your examples. In the first, "thuh" comes before the word "universal". "Universal" begins with a vowel. That seems to break your rule.

Wow, that Pizza Hut ad was really disruptive :(

Great article though! Thanks!

This is actually brilliant--I never realized this, but it seems to work!

As a counterpoint, pronouncing "thee" before consonants sounds like foreign overcompensation.

Thanks GG.

I was wondering when would there be a "pronunciation guy/girl/dude/diva/master/guide" here on QD Tips. I hope this is just a start of more to come.