Pronunciation: The Voiced “th” Sound
Minimal Pairs
| thee | Dee | Lee | bathe | bade | other | udder |
| then | den | zen | breathe | breed | rather | fodder |
| that | teethe | tease | ||||
| they | day | lay | writhe | ride | ||
| there | dare | lair | loathe | load | ||
| through | dough | low |
Challenging Words
| feather | the | rhythm | thereupon |
| zither | they | rhythmic | therewith |
| lather | theirs | therefore | |
| rather | they’ve |
In Phrases
| rythm, rhyme and harmony | under the weather | teething ring |
| That was then, this is now | one or the other | lather, rinse, repeat |
| either this one or that one | bathing beauties | a feather in her cap |
| father, mother, sister, brother |
Dialog
| Q. Is your father coming to the gathering this Saturday? |
| A. No, Neither is my mother. |
| Q. That’s too bad. My brother was looking forward to seeing them. |
| A. Well, they’re both a little under the weather. |
| Q. Oh, sorry to hear that. Can I send something or other to cheer them up? |
| A. Please don’t bother. They’ll be fine. |
Oral Reading
Even though my father is a weatherman, he can’t predict with absolute certainty whether it will rain or not. Neither can the other people who work with him. They say there’s only a thirty per cent chance of rain, and the next thing you know, it’s pouring. They predict snow, and there’s nothing for another five days. Then, there’s a blizzard. So rather than trust my father’s weather forecasts, I use a more reasonable approach. I ask my mother.
