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

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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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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The is sometimes pronounced «tha» (/ðə/) or «thi» (/ðiː/).

Which is the correct pronunciation of this word?

Are both correct and used interchangeably at specific places?

If the second question is correct, please provide the rule of pronouncing at different places.

Answer

The has two pronunciations: “thuh” /ðə/ and “thee” /ði/. While in a few dialects the rules are less well-defined, in most British and American dialects you say “thuh” when it precedes a consonant sound.

The(thuh) person /ðə pɜ:sən/
The(thuh) university /ðə ju:nɪvɜ:sɪti/

But you say “thee” when it precedes a vowel.

The(thee) apple /ði æpl/
The(thee) imagination /ði ɪmædʒɪneɪʃn/

Note that “University” is pronounced “Yuniversity”, which is started with a consonant sound.

In most dialects, “thee” can also be used in conjunction with particularly increased stress to add specific emphasis on the word:

This is the(thee) university for you. /ði: ju:nɪvɜ:sɪti/

Here’s an excerpt from American Heritage Guide to Contemporary Usage and Styles

Generally, before a consonant sound, the is pronounced (thə), <…>; before a vowel sound, the is often pronounced (thē) or (thī)<…>; and when stressed for emphasis the is pronounced (thē)

_{We should give credit to @Araucaria for editing the IPA}

Attribution
Source : Link , Question Author : user237650 , Answer Author : user178049

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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!

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