# pronunciation - THE



## Antonnio

Please tell me when "the" is pronounced as "di" and when as "da"...thank you

Moderator's note: several threads have been merged to create this one.


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## juanma

di when the next word begins with a vowel sound:

the other day /  the excellent job he did

beware: the sound in   university is not a vowel sound, thus:  the university (de)

You can also pronounce di in other cases when you want to give the meaning of _that one and only that_ , the important one we both know about:

Mr Johnson is coming, too
You meand THE Mr Johnson? (A particular Mr Johnson we both know about)


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## Masood

_In general_, when the word following 'the' starts with a vowel (a,e,i,o,u), the 'the' is elongated in sound (to sound like 'thee').
The (thee) elephant
The (thee) ant
The (thee) ostrich
The (thee) insect
but not (for example) the universe (which although it starts with a vowel, the first syllable makes the sound of the letter 'y' which is a consonant)

When the word 'the' is followed by a word starting with a consonant, in general 'the' is pronounced with a short sound.

Hope this helps.


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## Antonnio

all of you are very kind...thanks a lot


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## Amelí

_Moderator note: This question was merged with a previous question about the same subject._

Hi guys
I have a pronunciation difficulty
sometimes we pronounce "the" as "da" but sometimes we pronounce "the" as "di"
please, may you help me explaining when that difference accures????
thanks a lot

If I have some spelling mistakes please correct me, too.


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## Aidanriley

I don't think it matters which one you use. But, 'da' is more common.


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## SydLexia

It's a question of stress (and three different pronunciations)

With stress it's "thee"

Without stress it's normally 'uh' (the sound called the schwa) or the short unstressed 'i' before vowels.

"Not a 'Puerta del Sol', *the*ee 'Puerta del Sol' (in Madrid), thuh real one, thi only one, for me anyway."

syd


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## Roger Slater

99.99% of the time it is pronounced "da" -- only not really with a full "a" sound.  It's more like a vowel sound that doesn't exactly exist in Spanish.  I don't know how to describe it exactly, but just listen to any native speaker and pay attention.  You will see it is not a pure vowel like A in Spanish, but is quicker and pronounced further back in your throat (or to the back of your mouth) compared to an A.  And of course, it's not a hard "D" sound either, but something more like the softer D that is said in Spanish when the D comes between two vowels.


When is it pronounced di?  Well, you never _have _to say it that way, so the best rule I can give you is forget about ever saying it di.  

There are those who say that you should pronounce it with the long e (di) whenever the next word begins with a vowel, and you do have the option of doing so.  It is acceptable.  But I don't think it is ever really wrong to say it with the short e (da or duh), so don't worry about it.  Just get in the habit of saying it with the short e and learn to pronounce it well and you will get along just fine.


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## Amelí

as a conclusion I can say that is better to hear a native speaker =)
but The as da could me use more often the as di sometimes with vowels but is nor really common.
so thank all of you A LOT!!!!!


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## Aidanriley

The only time I say 'di' (pronounciation in English: thee) is when the next word starts with an i. But you are certainly not required to. For me, it just comes out that way for some reason.

The idiot vs Thee idiot


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## raven555

The "da" (actually, we use some phonemes, in this case shwa) is is followed by a consonant. Example "da" tree.

The "di" (in this case, with with a short i) is followed by a vowel. Example "di" album

phonetics and phonic analisys will help you, i've just summed up.


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## Phil-Olly

Actually, before any vowel.  So:

The bus, the car, the door  (da)

but:

Thee apple, thee egg, thee ink, thee orange, thee underwear (di)

(It saves the need for a glottal stop)


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## SydLexia

But do remember that there are 3 sounds, the schwa and both a long and a short 'i'. The short unstressed 'i' is used in front of vowels. It's 'thi' with a very very short unstressed 'i' so that you can say 'thiyownliwon' (the only one - with 2 unstressed i's)

The long stressed 'i' is the one that sounds like 'eee' and is very rarely used. 'The' is an article and articles are very rarely stressed as they are 'grammar' words and less important  than words conveying 'meaning'. As such, they don't usually need emphasis.

syd


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## gengo

It should be noted that while post numbers #2, #3, and #12 are perfectly correct, there are many, many Americans (my wife included) who do not follow that general rule, and always use "da," even in front of a vowel sound.  To me, it sounds grating, but learners of English will hear many people pronounce the word this way, so they need to know about that.


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## elianecanspeak

Summary: 
*/də/* (this is the "schwa" sound, something like the vowel in "up" in English)
      Some native speakers *always* use this pronunciation
      Some native speakers use this pronunciation except as noted below:

*/di/* _*(like the "i" in "tin" in English)*_
      Some native speakers use this pronunciation before  all vowels
      Some native speakers use this pronunciation only before a word starting with an "i" or          
a "u"  sound like the "u" in "unit" (since this sound is constructed of "i" + "oo"

*/di/* *(like the Castillian "i" in "ido")  * 
       to stress a particular, authentic person, place, or thing      (see post#2)


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## schweizer

I was reading a book for teaching English and the topic was comparatives and superlatives.

The thing is the sound of *the* was different in this cases.
*The* oldest... It sounded like tea
The most ... In this case it sounded like letter d in Spanish.

Can you help me? Is there any rule to pronounce them either way?
The book also suggested to listen carefully to the pronunciation of than when in comparatives. I did not notice any difference.

Thank you all!
I appreciate your explanations a lot!


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## Agró

*the *1  before vowel /ði/ , /ðɪ/ ; before consonant /ðə/


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## schweizer

Thank you!
So, for hour I will use /ði/ and for house /ðə/
Right?


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## Agró

schweizer said:


> Thank you!
> So, for hour I will use /ði/ and for house /ðə/
> Right?


Right.


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## duvija

Agró said:


> Right.




What about in isolation/emphatic: She is THE crazy one.


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## Giorgio Spizzi

Hullo, du.

In that case it is //ði:/. 
I would add: before a vowel sound /ði/ , /ðɪ/ ; before a consonant sound /ðə/

Best.

GS


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## Agró

duvija said:


> What about in isolation/emphatic: She is THE crazy one.



Entonces hay que usar la "strong form", claro:

*the *1  before vowel /ði/ , /ðɪ/ ;
before consonant /ðə/ , *strong form* */ðiː/ *  def art


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## Masood

Agró said:


> *the *1  before vowel /ði/ , /ðɪ/ ; before consonant /ðə/


Además, hay que usar /ðə/ antes de palabras que empiezan con vocales que hacen el sonido de consonantes:
_The uniform.
The university._


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## elirlandes

Masood said:


> Además, hay que usar /ðə/ antes de palabras que empiezan con vocales que hacen el sonido de consonantes:
> _The uniform.
> The university._



This particular case is a matter for accent/regional dialect. In Hiberno-English /ði/ or /ðɪ/ would be more usual before "uniform" or "university".


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## Masood

elirlandes said:


> This particular case is a matter for accent/regional dialect. In Hiberno-English /ði/ or /ðɪ/ would be more usual before "uniform" or "university".


Right, I didn't know that.


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## duvija

And for Chicago English, of course, it's always [da] (you've probably heard many jokes about this pronunciation, like 'da Bears' ... )


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## gengo

duvija said:


> And for Chicago English, of course, it's always [da] (you've probably heard many jokes about this pronunciation, like 'da Bears' ... )



Just for the archive, I'll add that this pronunciation is not standard anywhere, even in Chicago, although it is common in many areas.  It is a dialectical variation, but considered sub-standard, and should not be used in contexts where you want to sound educated.


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## duvija

gengo said:


> Just for the archive, I'll add that this pronunciation is not standard anywhere, even in Chicago, although it is common in many areas. It is a dialectical variation, but considered sub-standard, and should not be used in contexts where you want to sound educated.



Agreed. Mostly South Side Chicago, and clearly not elegant.


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