Phonics

/th/ (voiceless)
1 Pronouncing /th/
Can you make the voiceless /th/ sound?
Follow the steps below and look at the picture.

1 Place your tongue between your teeth.

2 Blow some air out.
3 Don’t make a sound in your throat.

Did You Know?

The voiceless /th/ sound
is sometimes written as
–/ in dictionaries.
/0

/th/

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 /th/ (voiceless)
Phonics

2 Listen and Repeat

Listen to the recording and repeat the words you hear.

Initial Sound Middle Sound Final Sound

• thanks • birthday • tooth

• thumb • toothbrush • month
• three • bathtub • both
• thin • healthy • math
• thick • earthquake • fourth

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 /th/ (voiceless)
Phonics

3 Spelling
A. Reading
The voiceless /th/ sound is always spelled with the
letters “t” and “h.” Notice the spelling of these words.

1 thick 3 bathtub 5 tooth

2 thumb 4 toothbrush 6 math

B. Writing
Write a word from Part A for each picture.

1 3 5

2 4 6

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 /th/ (voiceless)
Phonics

4 Comparing /t/ and /th/

A. Pronunciation Practice
Listen to the recording and repeat the words you hear.

/t/ /th/

tin thin

tree three

tick thick

boat both

fort fourth

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 /th/ (voiceless)
Phonics

4 Comparing /t/ and /th/ cont.

B. Listening Practice
Can you hear the difference between /t/ and /th/?
Listen to the recording. Circle the word you hear.

1 tin / thin 3 tick / thick 5 fort / fourth

2 tree / three 4 boat / both

C. Pair Work
Circle one word from each pair in Set 1.
Then say those five words to your partner.
Your partner will use Set 2 to circle the words he/she hears.
Then switch roles.

Set 1: Set 2:
My Pronunciation My Partner’s Pronunciation

1 tin / thin 1 tin / thin
2 tree / three 2 tree / three
3 tick / thick 3 tick / thick
4 boat / both 4 boat / both
5 fort / fourth 5 fort / fourth

Copyright 2018, Red River Press Inc. For use by ESL Library members only. (VERSION 1.0) 5