English Language is quite diverse so there’s always something to learn. On today’s #GrammarSeries we are talking about the correct ways to pronounce ‘the.’
You may be thinking that this is an easy one, but so many people make this mistake. Why not just deal with it once and for all?
‘The’ can be pronounced in two ways. Either as ‘thee’ or ‘thuh’ ( Some people don’t know this)
Want to know how to differentiate between the two?
Use ‘thee’ if the next word starts with a vowel sound.
For example;
I put ‘thee’ eggs in a basket.
‘Thee’ apples are too expensive.
However, If the next word starts with a consonant sound, use ‘thuh’
Look at these examples;
Are you sure my mum took ‘thuh’ car?
Where is “thuh” bag you bought?
We must not forget to add that ‘thee’ is also used for emphasis. So whether or not it is a vowel sound, you can use it if you want to emphasize on a point.
This is an example
My wedding is going to be ‘thee’ social event of the year.
Although the next word is a consonant, we used ‘thee’ because we want to emphasize on that point.
We hope you understand this and don’t repeat this mistake.