English TH Practice: Hear and Say /θ/ and /ð/ in Sentences
Practise English TH sounds /θ/ and /ð/: hear the voiced contrast, feel the vibration, keep the airflow and carry both sounds into short sentences.
Hear whether the TH is voiced, touch your throat to check vibration, keep airflow moving, then practise the switch inside words and sentences.
The tongue job is similar; the voice switch is the big contrast. If every TH attempt begins with rebuilding your whole mouth, the sentence never gets moving.
One shape, two sounds: Hear → Voice Check → Shape → Sentence.
Hear the difference before you chase the mouth position
BBC Learning English teaches two common English TH sounds: voiceless /θ/, as in think, and voiced /ð/, as in this. Start by deciding which category you hear.
Original practice example
think / this
Use the pair as your category anchor: /θ/ in think, /ð/ in this.
Useful when you need a simple reference pair before practising longer words.
think /θɪŋk/ · this /ðɪs/
Ask a partner or use a trusted model. Point to /θ/ or /ð/ before looking at the word.
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Voice Check: feel the switch at your throat
BBC’s teaching model gives both sounds a similar TH mouth shape and distinguishes them by voicing: /ð/ uses vocal-fold vibration; /θ/ does not.
Original practice example
/θ/ → /ð/ → /θ/ → /ð/
Place two fingers lightly on your throat. Keep the airflow going. /ð/ should give you noticeable vibration; /θ/ should not.
Useful when the two sounds feel identical in the mouth.
Voice off → voice on.
Alternate slowly five times. If the airflow stops, reset before speeding up.
Shape: keep the airflow, don’t turn TH into a stop
In the BBC model, the tongue comes between the teeth and air passes through the gap. You do not need to push the tongue dramatically forward. The useful cue is continuous TH airflow with the tongue in that general dental area.
Original practice example
thin / then
Keep the tongue and airflow pattern similar; switch mainly from voiceless /θ/ to voiced /ð/.
Useful for practising the contrast at the beginning of words.
thin /θɪn/ · then /ðen/
Say A-B-A-B slowly. Your tongue has one job; don’t give it a committee.
Original practice example
breath / breathe
This pair moves the contrast to word-final position: /θ/ in breath, /ð/ in breathe.
Useful for checking whether the voicing switch survives at the end of a word.
breath /breθ/ · breathe /briːð/
Say the pair slowly, then touch your throat on the final TH to check whether voicing changes.
Sentence: make the switch without stopping the sentence
BBC’s 2025 TH worksheet moves beyond single words into sentence-level practice. That matters because the real challenge is changing /θ/ and /ð/ while the rest of the sentence keeps moving.
Original practice example
I think that this is the third one.
The sentence forces repeated switching: /θ/ in think and third, /ð/ in that and this.
Useful for sentence-level contrast without a tongue twister becoming the whole exercise.
think /θ/ · that /ð/ · this /ð/ · third /θ/
Say it slowly once, then at a comfortable conversational pace. Keep the airflow through each TH.
Original practice example
Those three things are theirs.
This line alternates voiced and voiceless TH in a short, meaningful sentence.
Useful as a final switch test once single words are stable.
those /ð/ · three /θ/ · things /θ/ · theirs /ð/
Record the sentence. Listen back and mark whether each TH stayed in the intended category.
TH Voice Switchboard
Use this to find out whether your problem is hearing, voicing control, airflow or sentence transfer.
Round 1: ear only
Use think/this, thin/then, three/these, breath/breathe. Hide the answer and identify /θ/ or /ð/ before repeating.
What should you notice?
The main category difference is voicing: /ð/ is voiced, /θ/ is voiceless in the cited BBC teaching model.
Round 2: throat check
Alternate /θ/ → /ð/ → /θ/ → /ð/ with two fingers lightly touching your throat.
What should change?
Vibration should switch on for /ð/ and off for /θ/, while the TH airflow remains continuous.
Round 3: sentence transfer
Say: “I think that this is the third one.”
What are you checking?
Whether you can switch voicing several times without replacing TH with a stop or abandoning the sentence rhythm.
Correction lab: TH traps that slow the switch
“Every th is pronounced /θ/.”
Classification: inaccurate.
What a learner may do: use voiceless /θ/ in words that normally have voiced /ð/ in the target model.
Likely learner intent: simplify the spelling rule.
Natural alternative: learn the pronunciation of actual words; English th can represent /θ/ or /ð/.
Context note: spelling alone does not tell you a universal TH rule for every word.
Stopping the airflow completely
Classification: production problem, not a grammar error.
What may happen: TH becomes more stop-like instead of fricative-like.
Likely learner intent: make the sound more clearly.
Natural alternative: keep a narrow path for air and let the friction continue.
Context note: BBC’s model explicitly uses airflow through the tongue-and-teeth gap.
Pushing the tongue dramatically far out
Classification: unnecessary overcorrection.
What may happen: the learner creates extra tension and slows down sentence production.
Likely learner intent: make sure the tongue is “between the teeth”.
Natural alternative: use only enough tongue placement to create the intended TH friction in your model.
Context note: exact articulation varies across speakers and accents; no universal millimetre target is claimed.
Practising only isolated “think, think, think”
Classification: valid controlled practice, but incomplete as the entire lesson.
What may happen: the sound works alone and disappears in sentences.
Likely learner intent: stabilise /θ/.
Natural alternative: alternate /θ/ and /ð/, then use both in short sentences.
Context note: sentence transfer is the final test in this lesson.
The five-switch line
Say: think → this → three → these → thought. First slowly, then inside short phrases. If the contrast collapses, return to the throat check before adding speed.
One shape, two sounds
You do not need two completely different mouth plans. Hear the category. Keep the basic TH airflow and tongue setup. Switch the voice off for /θ/ and on for /ð/. Then make that switch survive the sentence.