American Accent–Pronouncing the Dreaded TH

Have you been struggling with how to pronounce the th sound? Ask any American how to pronounce the /th/ sounds (yes, there are 2 of them) and they’ll tell you to put your tongue between your upper & lower front teeth. Even speech professionals are out there telling you to do this.

In the Google results of “How to Pronounce the TH sound” you’ve got people wanting you to stick out your tongue. If you take a course on accent reduction and your teacher insists that you spend time sticking your tongue out of your mouth, run away fast!

Do not do this!  Sticking your tongue out to pronounce the /th/ sounds is yet another pervasive misconception of Standard American English. Watch the national news anchors as they report the news.

Their mouths are hardly moving & their tongues do not come out of their mouths. So, finally, no, you do not have to stick your tongue out!

How To Improve the Sound of Your Voice

How to Pronounce the TH Sound

In the International Phonetic Alphabet, the /th/ sounds are called “interdental fricatives.”  “Inter” meaning “between” and “dental” meaning teeth. “Fricative” means that the sound creates friction.

So it makes perfect sense that people think they should put their tongues between their teeth.

But Americans with good speech very rarely put their tongue between the teeth and very often don’t even use a fricative! They stop the sound instead.

I’ll back up.

A stop sound is one where you stop the air for a moment. /p/ & /b/ are two examples. Just for giggles say the words, “above” and “computer” aloud. I’ll wait. Did you feel how the air stopped momentarily?