British pronunciation of the word the - Word и Excel - помощь в работе с программами

- выделяет определенный, конкретный предмет, определенное, конкретное существо, лицо или явление из группы однородных предметов, существ или явлений

- указывает на то, что данный предмет, данное существо, лицо, явление известны слушающему

- придает существительному значение представителя определенного класса предметов, существ или явлений — часто при сопоставлении с другими классами

the cow is a domestic animal — корова — домашнее животное
the dog is stronger than the cat — собака сильнее кошки
who invented the telegraph? — кто изобрел телеграф?

- указывает на то, что данный предмет, данное лицо или явление является единственным в своем роде, уникальным

- указывает на то, что данный предмет, данное лицо или явление является самым лучшим, наиболее выдающимся, знаменитым или наиболее подходящим для чего-либо

- указывает на то, что данный предмет или свойство рассматривается относительно его обладателя

to hit smb. in the leg — попасть кому-л. в ногу
to clutch at the sleeve of one’s father [at the skirts of one’s mother] — цепляться за рукав отца [за юбку матери]
he‘s got the toothache [the measles] — у него болит зуб [он болен корью]

- употребляется с именем собственным в ед. ч. для обозначения хорошо известных деятелей в значении «тот самый»

the poet Keats — Китс, поэт
a certain Charles Dickens — not the Charles Dickens — некий Чарльз Диккенс — не знаменитый писатель Чарльз Диккенс
on board the ship are Bernard Shaw, the writer and Jack Smith, an actor — на борту корабля находятся (известный) писатель Бернард Шоу и Джек Смит, актёр

- употребляется с именем собственным в ед. ч. при наличии у имени ограничивающего определения

the Shakespeare of the great tragedies — Шекспир — автор великих трагедий
+2 the Paris of my youth — Париж моей юности

the Italy of the past — Италия прошлого, прежняя Италия
you must be the Mr. Smith (about whom he has so often talked) — вы, должно быть, тот самый мистер Смит (о котором он так часто говорил)

- употребляется с именем собственным в ед. ч. перед прилагательным или существительным — частью титула

- употребляется с именем собственным во мн. ч. для обозначения всей семьи

the Smiths came early — семья Смитов пришла рано, Смиты пришли рано

- употребляется с именем собственным во мн. ч. для обозначения династии

the Burbons — Бурбоны
the Tudors — Тюдоры

- оформляет субстантивацию прилагательных, причастий, числительных и местоимений

- оформляет название народа, племени и т. п.

- оформляет метонимический перенос значения

the stage — сценическая деятельность
+2 the gloves — бокс

the bottle — пьянство
from the cradle to the grave — от колыбели до могилы, от рождения до смерти, всю жизнь

- оформляет превосходную степень качественных прилагательных и порядковые прилагательные

- тем

- чем … тем …

the more [the sooner] the better — чем больше [чем скорее], тем лучше
+2 the more he has the more he wants — чем больше он имеет, тем большего он хочет

the less said about it the better — чем меньше говорить об этом, тем лучше
the more I practise the worse I play — чем больше я упражняюсь, тем хуже я играю

by the day — поденно
to the dollar — на доллар
to the gallon — на галлон
to the mile — на милю
on the whole — в целом
to have the cheek [the courage] to say smth. — иметь наглость [мужество] сказать что-л.
six pence the pound — шесть пенсов за (весь) фунт
£6 the lot — шесть фунтов за всё
£15 the coat and skirt — пятнадцать фунтов за жакет и юбку (вместе)

that — что, чтобы, который, то, тот, та, так, до такой степени
this — эта, это, этот, сей

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Normally, we pronounce the with a short sound (like «thuh»). But when the comes before a vowel sound, we pronounce it as a long «thee».

vowel sound	write	say
a	the apple	thee apple
e	the egg	thee egg
i	the ice-cream	thee ice-cream
o	the orange	thee orange
u	the ugli fruit	thee ugli fruit

It is important to understand that it is what we say that matters, not what we write. It is the sound that matters, not the letter used in writing a word. So we use a long «thee» before a vowel sound, not necessarily before a vowel. Look at these cases:

we write	with	we say	because
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

Emphatic the [thee]
When we wish to place emphasis on a particular word, we can use «emphatic the» [thee], whether or not the word begins with a consonant or vowel sound. For example:

A: I saw the [thuh] President yesterday.
B: What! The [thee] President of the United States?
A: Yes, exactly!

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Ask the Editor

Question

What are the different pronunciations of «the» and when do you use them?

—

Rajesh

United States

Answer

There are two ways to pronounce «the.» One pronunciation sounds like /ðə/ («thuh,» rhymes with «duh») and the other sounds like /ði/ («thee,» rhymes with «free»). The pronunciation of the word «the» depends on the first sound of the word that comes after it.

When the word after «the» begins with a consonant sound, people usually use /ðə/. When the word after «the» begins with a vowel sound, people usually use /ði/. Below are examples of when to use each pronunciation.

In each of the below sentences, /ðə/ is usually used because the word after «the» begins with a consonant sound:

He liked the book very much.
The kids enjoyed the play.
Each of the six roses had bloomed.
They were the first people to arrive at the party.

In each of the below sentences, /ði/ is usually used because the word after «the» begins with a vowel sound:

She reached the end of Park Street and had to turn around.
The indecision of the employees made work difficult.
She just watched her favorite movie for the eighth time.
He drew the apple in a very realistic way.

I hope this helps. For more posts about words, idioms, grammar, and usage, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!

You can read more articles in the archive.

Источник

There are two ways to pronounce that essential and rightfully-ubiquitous word, the. Despite their good intentions, those who say that it must always be rhymed with me and tree are flat-out wrong. And those who say that its pronunciation has something to do with verbs and nouns are likewise misinformed.

Pictured: the (rhyming with ‘me’) ice cream cone you deserve for reading good content.

Here are the facts: the standard way the word is pronounced has to do with what follows it. If the word that follows it begins with a consonant sound, then it’s pronounced t͟hə—that is, with the same vowel sound as the word of—and it is unstressed:

the water

the house

the bell

the one (note that although «o» is a vowel, the word one begins with the sound usually made by «w,» a consonant)

If the word that follows it begins with a vowel sound, the is usually pronounced t͟hē (to rhyme with me), but is also sometimes pronounced t͟hə, as above. Again, it is unstressed:

the owl

the hour

the eleventh

Occasionally the is stressed, for instance to provide emphasis, or before a long pause. In those cases it’s pronounced t͟hē:

the one and only

the queen of hip-hop

the Titanic

If you’re a native speaker of English, this information only confirms what you’ve been hearing and likely doing all your life. And as linguist Mark Liberman points out at Language Log (a group blog about all things linguistic), what we hear today is what our grandparents heard all their lives, and their grandparents before them, in both American and British English. And they had to hear it while walking uphill, both ways, in the snow.

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Just to add a little bit to the very good accepted answer:

In addition to the two distinctions already noted, there is at least one other situation in which native (at least American English) speakers will often use the stressed pronunciation.

In speech, when we are not sure what we are going to say next, most often we will use the stressed pronunciation:

I saw it in the(thee)…what do you call it…the(thuh) thing.

[reading aloud:] «Spinning around, she beheld the(thee)…» [turning page] «terrifying spectacle of a headless noun phrase!»

This distinction isn’t a rule or even a conscious pattern; I never noticed myself doing it until it was pointed out¹, but now if I’m paying attention I can tell that I do, and notice others doing it, as well.

Also, you’ll probably notice that all of these patterns of distinction (before a vowel, for emphasis, and for uncertainty) also exist for the indefinite article.

A generally changes to an before a vowel sound (a fruit versus an orange, but some dialects drop the distinction and always use a).

There are two ways to say the article a: unstressed (something like uh, often represented with a schwa Ə) or stressed (like the name of the letter A). This distinction can be used for emphasis:

So, I heard this is the place to learn English!
Well, this is certainly a(A) place to learn English. I’d say a(Ə) pretty good place, in fact, but there are probably others.

And, as with the, it can also signal when we’re unsure how we’re going to finish our sentence:

Welcome to our fine fast food establishment’s drive-through window! Would you like to try a(Ə) Super Gobbler Supreme?
Um, no, I’d like a(A)… (scanning the menu) …hmm… a(Ə) small fry and a(Ə) water.

¹ I first heard about this, I think, on a public radio interview with a linguist many moons ago. A related article (I’m not sure if it’s by the same person I heard on the radio, but it’s the same idea) is Pronouncing ‘‘the’’ as ‘thee’’ to signal problems in speaking by Fox Tree and Clark, 1996. From the abstract:

In a large corpus of spontaneous English conversation, speakers were found to use thiy to signal an immediate suspension of speech to deal with a problem in production. Fully 81% of the instances of thiy in the corpus were followed by a suspension of speech, whereas only 7% of a matched sample of thuhs were followed by such suspensions.

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Did you know that the little word the can be pronounced in two different ways? But when do you use each pronunciation? In this lesson I will explain a simple rule that will tell you how to pronounce it in all cases. Watch this pronunciation lesson and erase your mistakes!

Quiz

Test your understanding of this English lesson

Test your understanding of the English lesson by answering these questions. You will get the answers and your score at the end of the quiz.

Weak

Weak pronunciation Sounds like «thuh».

It rhymes with «duh» and if you say «mother» it rhymes with the «mo» and the «ther».

As a general rule, we use the weak pronunciation with words that start with a consonant or words that begin with a vowel.

For example:

Your browser does not support the audio element.

«The cat sat on the mat.»

Some words begin with a vowel, but are pronounced as if they begin with a consonant.

For example: the word ‘university’ starts with a /j/ sound, which is a consonant. So we say, ‘the university’. Another example is the word ‘one’ — ‘the one that most learners will know’.

Strong

The second is longer and sounds like «thee»:-

Strong pronunciation Sounds like «thee».

It rhymes with pea, fee, me.

We use the strong pronunciation with words that start with a vowel or sound as if they do.

For example:-

«the apple» «the end» «the hour» ‘the ice’

We also use the strong ‘the’ when we want to stress the word, regardless of whether it begins with a vowel or a consonant.

For example:-

Your browser does not support the audio element.

«I spoke to Kevin Costner the other day.»

«Not the Kevin Costner! The one who starred in Robin Hood?»

«No, the one who works in the chip shop.»

For Ramesh Arya

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