How to Pronounce "the" in English? - English Pronunciation & Grammar lesson

source: Learn English with Let's Talk    2014年6月10日
The is a lot of confusion over the pronunciation of the definite article 'the' . Normally, we pronounce "the" with a short sound (like "thuh"). But if "the" comes before a vowel or a vowel sound, we pronounce it as a long "thee".

A the apple thee apple
E the egg thee egg
I the ice-cream thee ice-cream
O the orange thee orange
U the umbrella thee umbrella

Note it is very important to understand that what we write is different from what we say, that's why English is a strange language. It is the sound we produce that matters and not the letter or alphabet used in writing. So we use a long "thee" before a vowel or vowel sound. Look at words below:

the house consonant (h) thuh house consonant sound
the hour consonant (h) thee our vowel sound
the university vowel (u) thuh youniversity consonant sound
the umbrella vowel (u) thee umbrella vowel sound