35: there, their, they're: they're all said the same!

Learn the correct way to pronounce these three homophones.

Transcript

Hi everyone, and welcome back to Seattle Learning Academy's American English Pronunciation Podcast. My name is Mandy, and this is our 35th episode.

For the next few weeks I am going to have shortened podcasts. There are a lot of things going on at Pronuncian, including getting ready to publish video podcasts. So, until I get all of that figured out and get everything else finished and announced, these will be, as we say, "short and sweet".

Today I am going to talk about three very frequently said homonyms. Homonyms are different words that are pronounced the same. Today's homonyms are the words there, their, and they're. Let me spell them: there (t-h-e-r-e), their (t-h-e-i-r) , they're (t-h-e-y-'-r-e). I often hear students say the first two the same, there and their, but many do not realize that t-h-e-y-'-r-e is also said the same: they're.

The first sound is a voiced th, and then we say an r-controlled vowel, the a-i-r sound. The word has only one syllable. If you're saying it as two, it will sound like you are not saying the contraction for they are, it will sound like you are saying the words they and are.

Say all three with me: there, their, they're. It doesn't matter what order you're saying them in; they all sound the same!

I most frequently hear students substitute a d sound for a voiced th sound. Listen to the difference between the words d-a-r-e (dare) and their/there/they're:

dare, there/their/they're
dare, there/their/they're

Some students also substitute a z sound for a voiced th. Zare isn't a word, but listen to the comparison anyway:

zare, there/their/they're
zare, there/their/they're

And, as one last comparison, listen to there/their/they're pronounced correctly, as one syllable, and incorrectly, as two syllables. I'll say it correctly first.

correct: there/their/they're
incorrect: they-re

I'll say them again.

correct: there/their/they're
incorrect: they-re

I'll still have the transcripts up for this show at Pronuncian.com, and I'll link to lessons about the voiced th sound and the a-i-r sound from this week's show.

And that's all for today, everyone!

This has been a Seattle Learning Academy digital publication. Seattle Learning Academy is where the world comes to learn.

Thanks for listening everyone!

Bye-bye.