@@michaelalmquist9063 no its because its not a thing pronouncing "thu" is just some accents different pronounciation of the vowel, but they arent supposed to be pronouncing different words. 40 years as a speaker in the uk, hundreds of hours teaching, wife thats a finn and stupidly qualified at English teaching from 3 university's in different countries, including Glasgow and Oxford, and neither of us have heard this before.... wtf?
@@aloneinfinland I can agree that there are differences between different accents. Saying either "thuh apple", or "thee car", is of course not unheard of. However, you cannot deny that in many accents, there is a tendancy to prefer pronouncing "the" as "thee" before vowel sounds like, "thee idea" instead of "thuh idea", and "thuh" otherwise, "thuh book/table/glass" for example. A Google search confirms this tendancy, and just because it's not a 100 % accurate rule, it's still good to teach to foreign students, because making the distinction generally makes your speech flow better.
@@iamthatenglishteacher You are a perfect example of what teachers need to be like when teaching. Even in my mid-30s, you draw me into your lessons! I love your energy and motivation!
@Serenityblu23 it's similar. An precedes words beginning with vowels. An apple An hour (h isn't a vowel, but when you say hour, the h is silent) An elephant A is for worfs beginning with a consonant. A door A mountain A hike (notice in this word you pronounce the letter h, making it A!)
@@RandoPandaSmiles Because an English degree is more about written English, which does not make that differentiation (obviously). Go get a linguistics or ESL teaching degree and come back to us lmao.
Would love to hear you on "a" vs "an" . Also "would, could, should "have" and not "of". Going to watch some of your other videos in case you've already addressed those situations! ☺@@iamthatenglishteacher
Interesting that as a native speaker i have never not once gave a thought on how to pronounce "the" unless its spelled thee . Interesting, informative 👍
This was the type of elementary school teaching we got in my generation and earlier. I work with (so-called) ‘educated’ young military people who couldn’t articulate basics like this. I recently stumped a young co-worker when I asked her to tell me the root word for a word she attempted to pronounce so we could discover what the word (most likely) meant. Just trying to expand her ‘toolbox’ a bit. And yes, I did tell her the proper pronunciation, the root word and meaning. 😉 Those students don’t know how blessed they are because this training is no longer the norm. They will do well to take heed to all that she can give them. I am more thankful for my 1970’s public school education as the days go by. 🙏🏽❤
I LOVE to hear the one student say, "Yes, Maam." I don't hear students use it much where I live, but think it is such a wonderful, respectful, and kind way to respond to someone older and in a position like a teacher.
Some teachers really don’t like it. I was taught to respond that way, and when I started school I responded with yes or no ma’am (this was in 1993). And my teacher scolded me for calling her ma’am because it made her sound “old.” 🤷🏽♀️ I tried it with a few other teachers and they said the same thing, but they were nicer about it.
@@LiftingLenayou had some SUPER insecure teachers lmaooo I cant imagine thinking a gesture of respect is disrespectful because I'm old. Did the men also get offended for being called sir???
I never knew this rule. I like it. It sounds better now. I always said thuh and thought thee was the way southerners said it. I learned something new today. Thank you.
People aren’t taught this because it’s not true. This word is not typically pronounced differently based on the phoneme it precedes but rather by whether it is being stressed or not.
I never enjoyed learning english but the energy she gives toward the lesson kept my attention and I wasn't even in the room. Thank you for being a teacher and especially thank you for being an excellent teacher!!
@@AustinWestbro It's interesting that no native Engish speaker was ever taught this. It definately is not a rule but I just googled 'cometh the hour cometh the man' and in fact the 'the's' do change
So you would say, "thuh apple"? Where are you from? Do you find that the little flap in your throat closes briefly between the two words when you say this? Do other people you know do this? Sorry, for all the questions, it's just that I'm interested in regional accents and I think I've heard this before on film and television.
@@Ginjitzu I live in the southern US and I use "thuh" in all cases except for providing emphasis e.g. "THEE thing I'm emphasizing". this is the common way to speak where I'm from. notice how in black american dialects, which originated in the south, "thuh" becomes "duh" usually written as "da" "linguistics is da bomb"
I was taught "thee" before vowels in grade school and I'm black and from SE TX. But I think schools stopped teaching phonics in the 90's so that explains why many do not know.
This woman is a true teacher. She is pleasant, engaging & makes learning more interesting. It doesn't hurt that she has a special pointer device either 😊
Same here in the UK, and in fact, the entire commonwealth uses the word "thee." Clearly, the American - English variation did not translate well. Thee is the same in German & French.
@@yeahkcyeahit's never been a 'rule' here in the US but it's basically the same. We literally just choose which flows best with the words. (it's funny that typing this out, I mentally said 'thee', reading it back mentally, I said 'thuh')
@@yeahkcyeah I had to study proper English and "thee" is both used for emphasis as well as before vowel sounds not vowels in general. For examples "university" is still "thuh", whereas "hour" would still be "thee" since the consonant is mute.
@@yeahkcyeahalso from the UK but I would've said it's the opposite. I swear it's almost exclusively pronounced thuh unless the following syllable is stressed which I think is the actual rule
@@kingcobraarchie yeah thats what I thought never actually consciously thought about. ig in queens english you would follow this but then with these id still say thuh electricity. but use both interchangably doesnt matter as long as it doesnt sound bad and makes sense ig
Her class seems exciting I love her energy!! I had an English teacher who taught us how to think about the world outside of myself and to this day I thank him for that.
I started teaching myself english at age 9. I was quickly fluent because children’s brains really are just sponges for information. However, because it’s a foreign language in my country, we never tackled rules such as these! It’s something I’ve somehow subconsciously picked up on just from watching media in english. However, I’m an outlier. While I struggle with commas in English, that’s one of my few ‘trouble-areas’. For a lot of my classmates classes like what this woman shows would have helped so much! She provides easy ways to remember the weird rules, she’s kind and always smiling, she is encouraging! I know this is a class for native english speakers, but I can definitely see how beneficial this would be even in foreign language classes. English was always my favourite subject, but I think I would have loved it even more if I had a teacher like her!
I am loving this for the young people. I didn't learn this until I got to college. One thing I learned in college, is when you speak and it doesn't flow out of ur mouth, then u are not using this example and other sounds.
This comes up so much in choir! I think that was the first time I had this defined for me because a single word can be stretched out so long that you don't automatically choose in your head.
I just thinking about this. I grew up doing choir, and I’m now a music ed and vocal performance major. It’s always “thee” when there’s a vowel, and “thah” when there’s a constant.
The distinction has nothing to do with whether it precedes a vowel, it has to do with whether the word is stressed or unstressed. The stressed version is “thee” the unstressed is “thuh”. “The” is most often stressed to indicate the uniqueness/singularness of the noun it is attached to.
That's right. English has strong and weak forms. "As big as" is a good example as the strong and weak are very different. A lot of common misconceptions like this stem from when English was first studied, scholars had previously studied Latin so they carried rules over from a very different language that had never applied to English. This is where "an history", "don't end a sentence with a preposition", "don't split an infinite" came from. They were never part of the English language. There's a caveat to all that though, much of language change start as "mistakes". For example, it's very unlikely that "die" will survive as a plural to "dice" or the distinction between "fewer" and "less". "Literally" is clearly changing meaning which is literally frustrating for many people. A very powerful tool for etymologists is studying people complaining about language misuse as they tend to go into enormous detail. I don't see this one catching on. Nobody apart from this lady uses this, it just sounds plausible because of "an orange"; btw that used to be "a norange" (it's still naranja in Spanish) but somebody made a mistake. :)
This one comment elucidates the problem of prescriptivist grammar concepts perfectly. The idea that anyone would be judged negatively based on the way that they choose to enunciate their words while speaking is ridiculous, and also completely impractical. I've encountered more idiots who spoke using "proper diction" than I could hope to remember, but it's amazing how many people are gullible/elitist enough to believe them to be intelligent simply based on the particular way they orient their mouths while speaking.
This isn’t a grammatical rule per se as much as it’s just a convention. It is equally correct to use either pronunciation in both circumstances, but one may sound more natural depending on your dialect. Personally, I almost always use the “thuh” pronunciation in everyday speech and usually only the “thee” pronunciation for emphasis.
I think it's quite rare not to make the distinction though. I think the purpose of the distinction is to avoid a glottal stop between the two words. It's actually got entirely the same purpose as a/an. Where are you both from by the way? I know I've heard accents on film and television that don't make the distinction and would say, "thuh apple" or "a apple", but it's certainly far less common among English accents.
You have to not think about it. Pretend you’re asking your teacher. “Where is the bathroom?” “Where is the auditorium” and more than likely you said thee auditorium
That’s how most things are in English. I can speak near perfect grammar but can’t tell you why, it’s why I suck in English class but write novels and read Tolkien
I am 60 years old and I had NO IDEA there was a reason for using Thee and thuh!! If I was ever told in School, I sure do not remember that!! Thanks for the English lesson!! IT is decades overdue!!!
I did not know this! You lean something every day. What an excellent English teacher❤❤❤❤Teachers should be making hella a lot of money. Without teachers, we would not be in the professions we embark on now!!❤❤❤
@plucas9324 You are completely wrong. It is not about region. This teacher is correct. Native English all speak as this teacher describes. Even if some don't know about the following vowel word, they still pronounce "the" and "thee" at the correct time. Unless they are really really stupid with zero education.
What a fantastic teacher. I know this is just a short video but I can tell she loves her job and students. And they respect her as well as she respects them plus she’s appropriately dressed. We need to see more positive videos than negative. Please continue to do amazing work. The young people need more like you who seem to be genuinely interested in their learning and success. Heck I’m 52 with a college degree and you have my attention.😂 Blessings to you.
Love this. In my Southern dialect we just yeet this rule right out the window though and almost exclusively use “thuh” regardless of following letter sounds.
I'm a southern born girl too and most of the time it's thuh not thee no matter what letter starts the next word. Didn't know there were times I should have not said thuh
I think it's just an unfortunate consequence of calling anything in English "a rule", when English is an infamously fickle. I think "rules" or "correctness" in English mostly just refer to what's most common among speakers.
@@Vanessa-es2ss Trust me, I knew this when I was studying in the 80s😅..our Malaysian teachers taught us well😊..proud of my school and teachers in Malaysia..I now live in the ME, but my heart always loves Malaysia. And yes she is right, its just that even Native speakers are not knowing this shows how other speakers take true interest in learning and teaching them right♥️💯
@@nate9198Thanks man! As a Polish I got confused, but made my own assumption it’s American English not British English with always and only „the” being pronounced 😎
She's right. I hadnt notice this b4. But I always say thee apple, thee accelerator or thee angle. Im so used to it, I hear it as thuh. If someone asked do I ever say thee, I would have said-- no.😅
@@guitarandrums No she is right. I had a senior teacher who used to teach in a top University but as he got older, he decided to teach in school for less burden. He also told us about it.
@iamthatenglishteacher WOW, you are amazing! Reminded me of my favorite teacher ,Mrs Chesney." I will never forget her & I'm positive that your students will always remember you! (I had no idea this was your channel. I just thought it was a "soon to be viral" video showing teachers how it's done.🤷♀️🫡♥️👏👏👏
@viniciusmarques9964 I'm not a native speaker , but I've had English teachers from the US, New Zealand and the UK over the years . I've asked them about this , not a single one of them have heard about this pronunciation rule. I'm not trying to offend you , I'm just pointing out my perspective on the situation. Either way, this is a relatively small rule that , in the grand scheme of things, is not that important.
@@viniciusmarques9964 Nope. I'm a native English speaker from the UK (where the language originated). I've never heard anyone say thee except Americans. Brits all say thuh.
@@hannahmcintosh5343sorry, but playing the "I'm-a-native-speaker" card doesn't really work, as native speakers, overall, know *far less* about grammatical and pronunciation rules of their languages when compared to non-native speakers. That's because they didn't learn the language from zero, like non-native speakers, but rather grasped it from their parents. Do a thorough research about vowel reduction and how it works.
As a non-native speaker I've been asking myself this question since I started learning English about 15 years ago and I'm so grateful I finally came across "thee video" 🤣
As an African, our pronunciation is neither of the above. In Kenya 'e' is pronounced as in 'e' in 'egg'. Swahili alphabet affect how we pronounce words.
In Britain we don't really have this distinction, it's more "thee" sound when we are drawing out what we are saying (like when you are choosing, "I'll have thee......salmon") but maybe because our 'thuh' is closer to a vah/dah and that goes perfectly with a vowel sound ("I'll have duh'other one") but I can see how we can use thee as well depending on the word (spelling/sound etc) - Super interesting, I'll start teaching this in class
We most certainly do lol. "Thee" on vowel sounds and "thuh" on consonant sounds; the purpose of it is to improve elocution so that a person speaks clearly.
Personally, I rarely hear people say 'thee' and more 'thur' in both formal and informal conversation, regardless if it's correct or not. But, it's probably based on Regional/country dialect. Sort of like 'bARth' and 'BATH' situation
@@johnradium9994 yup, I like to think that we do it mostly when we are using the 'thee' to to indicate importance and emphasis "It's theee host with the most". But I've got an estuary accent so maybe it was just never meant to be!
In England people says the evidence. The aeiou is what is seen and spoken as Shakespearean English. old English language nowadays only the is spoken if you're doing a play by Shakespeare like Othello.
@@Its_Boki I'd see it that way too, but it's just bizarre and I'm in disbelief that so many native speakers don't actually know that and are literally calling the teacher a liar for teaching a rule they should've learned years ago.
@@viniciusmarques9964 well ok, that's actually fair . Nonetheless, she is a good teacher. I was only talking about the grammar rule in my previous comment.
Favoring usage over rule following leads to better comprehension. Even if this vowel sound is true in some grammar book or style guide or what have you, it’s really not how most people speak. There may be regional differences, but where I live, it’s almost always “thuh.” At the end of the day, it’s about comprehension and communication, not matching what a book says.
@@AlexanderTheGraype That's how it works with me. It's still written as "the" though, the only thing that changes is the way you pronounce it. Edit: Pronouncing it as "thee" also emphasizes uniqueness, like there's only one Tom Cruise and Statue of Liberty
I agree with you. I studied until University degree in the UK and listened to BBC pronunciation. I use ‘der’ to refer to general object and ‘di’ for particular object, and BBC did the same. I also studied German, and there are more variations of the word ‘the’, der, die, du etc.
I’m 35 yrs old and she got me participating. Great work.
Me too
Same lol
Me too
Same!!
Same 😂
40 years as a native speaker and I've never heard this distinction
This was taught in the first minutes of my first-ever English class
Well obviously, as a native speaker you don't think about it.
@@michaelalmquist9063 no its because its not a thing pronouncing "thu" is just some accents different pronounciation of the vowel, but they arent supposed to be pronouncing different words. 40 years as a speaker in the uk, hundreds of hours teaching, wife thats a finn and stupidly qualified at English teaching from 3 university's in different countries, including Glasgow and Oxford, and neither of us have heard this before.... wtf?
@@aloneinfinland I can agree that there are differences between different accents. Saying either "thuh apple", or "thee car", is of course not unheard of.
However, you cannot deny that in many accents, there is a tendancy to prefer pronouncing "the" as "thee" before vowel sounds like, "thee idea" instead of "thuh idea", and "thuh" otherwise, "thuh book/table/glass" for example.
A Google search confirms this tendancy, and just because it's not a 100 % accurate rule, it's still good to teach to foreign students, because making the distinction generally makes your speech flow better.
@@rderouckyour probably taught in America.
This is a great teacher ! She is not "lecturing at them" , she is "working with them" !!!
Exactly ❤
Indeed. Like maths, there's a formula. Maths I can, however, I never could wrap my head around English/grammar/etc at school.
Hence, a GREAT teacher.
This is what’s needed. Afterwhile AI, going to be teaching our children. 😢
Almost 40 y/o me playing along and feeling so proud of myself. The everlasting power of teachers is real.
❤️❤️
😂
Not only is she making her students hyper intelligent, she just loves her job.
I do. ❤️
@@iamthatenglishteacherGod made you a wonderful Shepard over children. Thank you for reaching us grown folk too! 💜🙏🏽🕊
@@iamthatenglishteacherLove ur energy! I've never heard this rule b4. TFS❤❤❤
@@iamthatenglishteacherwe love teachers that love to teach 🫡 the world wouldn’t exist without you ❤
@@iamthatenglishteacher You are a perfect example of what teachers need to be like when teaching. Even in my mid-30s, you draw me into your lessons! I love your energy and motivation!
Never knew that, and I'm 59! You are never too old to learn something new😊
I didn't realize this either and I'm 61😂
We do it without thinking...if we grew up hearing it.
B@@terrymcclay3897Me either, never was taught that way. Never to old to learn.
I’ve never heard that. Amazing. Could be taught in the same lesson as “a” and “an.”
Got an English degree and never heard this “rule”.
I need help on a and an 😢
@@RandoPandaSmiles Where have you studied bro? I learned this in 5th grade
@Serenityblu23 it's similar. An precedes words beginning with vowels.
An apple
An hour (h isn't a vowel, but when you say hour, the h is silent)
An elephant
A is for worfs beginning with a consonant.
A door
A mountain
A hike (notice in this word you pronounce the letter h, making it A!)
@@RandoPandaSmiles Because an English degree is more about written English, which does not make that differentiation (obviously). Go get a linguistics or ESL teaching degree and come back to us lmao.
I’m a highly educated 30 y/o woman and I’m really glad that you make these videos for adults to learn from too.
Of all my English classes, I don't remember this rule.
Glad I learned something new.
Neither do I. Nor do I see it practiced in real life.
It's not an English rule.
@@visitnamangawhat is it then? Spanish?
@@kry0cera962 It’s English, but it’s not a rule.
Thuh is a wrong pronouncing of the word she is teaching ebonics this isn't English
I'm 45 years old just to sit in her classroom as well as learn new things or have a refresher...LOL. I love her positive energy! Good vibes!
Thanks.
Would love to hear you on "a" vs "an" .
Also "would, could, should "have" and not "of". Going to watch some of your other videos in case you've already addressed those situations!
☺@@iamthatenglishteacher
new things? I think at 45, you should know everything that is in every last one of her videos.
Well, it's new to him. He's humble enough to admit. Mr. Perfect!@@TheBobist
Interesting that as a native speaker i have never not once gave a thought on how to pronounce "the" unless its spelled thee . Interesting, informative 👍
I’m sure you included that double negative to irk theenglishteacher
@@tokiohotelx3er 😁😅
😂@@tokiohotelx3er
What does the word after has to do with the previous one.... new school new bullshyt¡¡¡¿¿¿¿
This was the type of elementary school teaching we got in my generation and earlier. I work with (so-called) ‘educated’ young military people who couldn’t articulate basics like this. I recently stumped a young co-worker when I asked her to tell me the root word for a word she attempted to pronounce so we could discover what the word (most likely) meant. Just trying to expand her ‘toolbox’ a bit. And yes, I did tell her the proper pronunciation, the root word and meaning. 😉
Those students don’t know how blessed they are because this training is no longer the norm. They will do well to take heed to all that she can give them. I am more thankful for my 1970’s public school education as the days go by. 🙏🏽❤
👏🏽 👏🏽 👏🏽 As an educator, I appreciate learning from others. It’s said, a good teacher is a continual learner. Thanks for sharing❤
Thank you. ❤️❤️
I LOVE to hear the one student say, "Yes, Maam." I don't hear students use it much where I live, but think it is such a wonderful, respectful, and kind way to respond to someone older and in a position like a teacher.
Thanks.
Some teachers really don’t like it. I was taught to respond that way, and when I started school I responded with yes or no ma’am (this was in 1993). And my teacher scolded me for calling her ma’am because it made her sound “old.” 🤷🏽♀️ I tried it with a few other teachers and they said the same thing, but they were nicer about it.
@LiftingLena I've heard some women, usually in certain regions of the country, don't like it, but I always have. Maybe I'm Southern at heart.
@@LiftingLenayou had some SUPER insecure teachers lmaooo I cant imagine thinking a gesture of respect is disrespectful because I'm old. Did the men also get offended for being called sir???
This feels like a waste of time
i literally didn't know this was a thing and would just go off what sounded better 😭
I mean that is where the distinction comes from. It depends on what mative speakers naturally expect by the better sound.
@@quintuscrinis8032 maturally
Me too
I think it’s only a thing in America, we do t use theeee in Australia 😂
@@melbournestacker You wouldn't use it when talking about the Americans vs the Germans of ww2?
Does it sound like th'Americans?
This lady is amazing. She has so much energy and excitement in her teachings. We need more teachers like her
Increase the pay and benefits they will come.
I never knew this rule. I like it. It sounds better now. I always said thuh and thought thee was the way southerners said it. I learned something new today. Thank you.
I’m shocked at how many people were never taught this. Go off Mrs. Teacher. Keep elevating our kids
I was taught that ❤ English is my third language.
It wasn't necessary, "the" is like "pecan". People will know what you're saying so worrying was pointless
I don't believe thee/thuh is a thing. At least not in America.
People aren’t taught this because it’s not true. This word is not typically pronounced differently based on the phoneme it precedes but rather by whether it is being stressed or not.
Same thing I said! I taught my girls this.
I never enjoyed learning english but the energy she gives toward the lesson kept my attention and I wasn't even in the room. Thank you for being a teacher and especially thank you for being an excellent teacher!!
Thank you! 😃
I'm 59 and I am so amazed at her techniques!! Thanks!! Everyone can learn something from you 😊Love it! You were born for this ❤
Wow, thank you!
I have started learning English since 2018 today is my first time to come across this explanation. I’m grateful
Good luck!
I am English and I was never taught this. I guess I do it automatically but was not aware of it!
No native speakers actually do this. I wouldn’t worry about it at all.
@@AustinWestbro It's interesting that no native Engish speaker was ever taught this. It definately is not a rule but I just googled 'cometh the hour cometh the man' and in fact the 'the's' do change
@@AustinWestbro They do though lol
I’m a native speaker and I always say “thuh” unless I’m emphasizing that it’s the only one.
So you would say, "thuh apple"? Where are you from? Do you find that the little flap in your throat closes briefly between the two words when you say this? Do other people you know do this? Sorry, for all the questions, it's just that I'm interested in regional accents and I think I've heard this before on film and television.
I'm from the American south and almost everyone here uses "thuh" regardless of the following word starting with a vowel or consonant. @@Ginjitzu
@@Ginjitzu I live in the southern US and I use "thuh" in all cases except for providing emphasis e.g. "THEE thing I'm emphasizing". this is the common way to speak where I'm from.
notice how in black american dialects, which originated in the south, "thuh" becomes "duh" usually written as "da"
"linguistics is da bomb"
I was taught "thee" before vowels in grade school and I'm black and from SE TX. But I think schools stopped teaching phonics in the 90's so that explains why many do not know.
@@iomalvaGio- no, you just never noticed it.
This woman is a true teacher. She is pleasant, engaging & makes learning more interesting. It doesn't hurt that she has a special pointer device either 😊
❤️
She’s fabulous. I would have loved to have a teacher like her. She makes learning fun, how it should be. Great job.
Thank you so much!
Native English speaker from Canada. Most people I know only ever use thee instead of thu for emphasis to mean 'the one and only'
Same here in the UK, and in fact, the entire commonwealth uses the word "thee." Clearly, the American - English variation did not translate well. Thee is the same in German & French.
@@yeahkcyeahit's never been a 'rule' here in the US but it's basically the same. We literally just choose which flows best with the words. (it's funny that typing this out, I mentally said 'thee', reading it back mentally, I said 'thuh')
@@yeahkcyeah I had to study proper English and "thee" is both used for emphasis as well as before vowel sounds not vowels in general. For examples "university" is still "thuh", whereas "hour" would still be "thee" since the consonant is mute.
@@yeahkcyeahalso from the UK but I would've said it's the opposite. I swear it's almost exclusively pronounced thuh unless the following syllable is stressed which I think is the actual rule
@@kingcobraarchie yeah thats what I thought never actually consciously thought about. ig in queens english you would follow this but then with these id still say thuh electricity. but use both interchangably doesnt matter as long as it doesnt sound bad and makes sense ig
I started saying as if I am in classroom. Teaching methodology is awesome mam❤
what methodology? read out loud together? that's standard and has been done for millenia
@@NoctLightCloudcool
You mean teaching grammatica.
@@magi7401 yup
Her class seems exciting I love her energy!! I had an English teacher who taught us how to think about the world outside of myself and to this day I thank him for that.
53 years old and I’m just learning this. WOW. 😮Thank you. ❤
I had great teachers and never learned this. Learned something new today. Society needs you now more than ever. Thank you.
❤️❤️❤️❤️
I like this lady. I wish more teachers were like her.
Got me focused in an English lesson. I wish I had you as a teacher.
❤️❤️
I started teaching myself english at age 9. I was quickly fluent because children’s brains really are just sponges for information. However, because it’s a foreign language in my country, we never tackled rules such as these! It’s something I’ve somehow subconsciously picked up on just from watching media in english.
However, I’m an outlier. While I struggle with commas in English, that’s one of my few ‘trouble-areas’. For a lot of my classmates classes like what this woman shows would have helped so much!
She provides easy ways to remember the weird rules, she’s kind and always smiling, she is encouraging!
I know this is a class for native english speakers, but I can definitely see how beneficial this would be even in foreign language classes.
English was always my favourite subject, but I think I would have loved it even more if I had a teacher like her!
Your punctuation seems really great to me!
I am loving this for the young people. I didn't learn this until I got to college. One thing I learned in college, is when you speak and it doesn't flow out of ur mouth, then u are not using this example and other sounds.
This comes up so much in choir! I think that was the first time I had this defined for me because a single word can be stretched out so long that you don't automatically choose in your head.
I just thinking about this. I grew up doing choir, and I’m now a music ed and vocal performance major. It’s always “thee” when there’s a vowel, and “thah” when there’s a constant.
I didn't know that cool
That's the way most find out about 'the & thee" today, when singing. We were actually taught it in school.
But they are talking about the not thee
This is more about accent/pronunciation rather than a “rule “ we never say “thee” here in Australia but in the USA it’s pretty common to hear it..
Having lived my entire life in the US, I cannot recall hearing many people saying thee, I cannot believe its common by any means in my area
Not really, i was taught this in kindergarten. When they were teaching us Consonants and vowels.
@@p.s1034 Say with people saying "a" as "uh". It sounds like you're ordering food at McDonald's. I hate it.
Just no literally no
This is quite correct, I'm shocked that some people are saying that they never heard about this!
So enthusiastic!! Great teacher!
Thanks so much!
Yeah. Awesome
You are a great teacher . This is the way good teachers use to teach ..
Please keep up the good work 👍
Thank you, I will.❤️
The distinction has nothing to do with whether it precedes a vowel, it has to do with whether the word is stressed or unstressed. The stressed version is “thee” the unstressed is “thuh”. “The” is most often stressed to indicate the uniqueness/singularness of the noun it is attached to.
Completely incorrect
Brilliant.
Nah the is the word thuh is ebonics or American English thuh is wrong no matter what rules
That's right. English has strong and weak forms. "As big as" is a good example as the strong and weak are very different.
A lot of common misconceptions like this stem from when English was first studied, scholars had previously studied Latin so they carried rules over from a very different language that had never applied to English. This is where "an history", "don't end a sentence with a preposition", "don't split an infinite" came from. They were never part of the English language.
There's a caveat to all that though, much of language change start as "mistakes". For example, it's very unlikely that "die" will survive as a plural to "dice" or the distinction between "fewer" and "less". "Literally" is clearly changing meaning which is literally frustrating for many people.
A very powerful tool for etymologists is studying people complaining about language misuse as they tend to go into enormous detail.
I don't see this one catching on. Nobody apart from this lady uses this, it just sounds plausible because of "an orange"; btw that used to be "a norange" (it's still naranja in Spanish) but somebody made a mistake. :)
@@jahsilent1nothing in language is incorrect as long as people can understand what youre saying
Am a grandmother and i just learned this. Thank you mam.
This is Awesome!! I'm in the 50 plus club and love how she teaches. Never too old to learn!!!
Rock on!
Awesome teacher!! She knows how to keep the attention of her students
I paid attention, and im not a student. And I learned something, and it felt good 😊
WE NEED PHONETIC SPELLING BACK IN SCHOOLS!!! Thx @iamthatenglishteacher this channel is much needed!
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Learned something new!
Thank you very much, as a Mexican living in the States for 30+ years, I'm always trying to improve.🙏
I am so glad TH-cam recommended your channel
Welcome!
I LOVE how engaged they are! And, I LOVE, LOVE the respect of the young man who said, “Yes, ma’am”! Great job.
❤️❤️❤️
As a Canadian….it’s always ‘the’, unless you spell with an extra ‘e’ (thee).
That‘s weird, it’s always "the" for me, unless "the" sounds better. But it‘s never like "the".
am i expected to hear your words?😂
@@takieddinbalti6956same for me, "the" is more preferable than "the". I'm not sure why we should say "the" as "the".
Thee means you. Its old english
Learning English properly isn't always the same as speaking it as a native.
The good woman here is teaching proper English rules here.
This one lesson will help someone in this classroom pass the interview and get the job simply by sounding more articulate! Bravo Teacher!😂
This one comment elucidates the problem of prescriptivist grammar concepts perfectly. The idea that anyone would be judged negatively based on the way that they choose to enunciate their words while speaking is ridiculous, and also completely impractical. I've encountered more idiots who spoke using "proper diction" than I could hope to remember, but it's amazing how many people are gullible/elitist enough to believe them to be intelligent simply based on the particular way they orient their mouths while speaking.
This isn’t a grammatical rule per se as much as it’s just a convention. It is equally correct to use either pronunciation in both circumstances, but one may sound more natural depending on your dialect. Personally, I almost always use the “thuh” pronunciation in everyday speech and usually only the “thee” pronunciation for emphasis.
Exactly, it's just a dialect.
I think it's quite rare not to make the distinction though. I think the purpose of the distinction is to avoid a glottal stop between the two words. It's actually got entirely the same purpose as a/an. Where are you both from by the way? I know I've heard accents on film and television that don't make the distinction and would say, "thuh apple" or "a apple", but it's certainly far less common among English accents.
@@GinjitzuI've never noticed the distinction. I'm from Philadelphia. I never say thee.
You have to not think about it. Pretend you’re asking your teacher. “Where is the bathroom?” “Where is the auditorium” and more than likely you said thee auditorium
@@scity1845nope I never say it like “thee”
You are a phenomenal teacher! I can see how much is it delights you, thank you for your efforts. ❤
I turned 42 years old 6 days ago and I did not know this. You learn something new everyday. Thank you.
crazy how as native speakers we naturally know to change "the" accordingly, but if you asked most of us probably couldn't tell you why
Absolutely true
For us who learn English as a second language, things like this confuse us the more.
All native speakers, how do you pronounce the in the following sentence? "Where's the apple?
That’s how most things are in English. I can speak near perfect grammar but can’t tell you why, it’s why I suck in English class but write novels and read Tolkien
And non-native speakers also pick it up via immersion. Speaking as someone with first hand experience lol
Best explanation I've ever heard. Thank you, from one educator to another!! 💯👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
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I was told that I was saying it wrong when saying thee orange by an English teacher in England!
I am 60 years old and I had NO IDEA there was a reason for using Thee and thuh!! If I was ever told in School, I sure do not remember that!! Thanks for the English lesson!! IT is decades overdue!!!
So glad you are teaching this these type of lessons are not taught in school anymore. So refreshing to see. Blessings
Thanks for watching!
Beautiful Teacher....thank you for this lesson
Thank you! 😃
@@iamthatenglishteacher Hello Mam, " the" Doctor or "thuh" Doctor. Which one pronounce should be correct.
@@Bharat4747_doesn't really matter
@@Bharat4747_I say 'thuh' doctor most of the time though because of my accent
Perhaps in American English. It's always "thuh" in New Zealand English. Different things in different places, for different people - and that's fun.
Well now you learned the correct thing.
I've been American for 48 years now and I have never heard this. "Thee" is old fashioned Bible talk or Shakespeare language.
Same in Australia
Yeah bro you right and I like hear when my kiwis friends pronunciation Deck to be d*ck and change every letter E to be I hahaha
@@nyaa3446yeah mate, that teacher suddenly make me insecure as Asian who lives in Aus
I'm an English teacher and I didn't know the difference. We learn till we die indeed. Thanks ma'am you taught me something new.
Honored.
I did not know this! You lean something every day. What an excellent English teacher❤❤❤❤Teachers should be making hella a lot of money. Without teachers, we would not be in the professions we embark on now!!❤❤❤
This lesson made me skinnier too
I'm glad someone is still teaching good grammar!
What is good grammar?
@plucas9324
You are completely wrong. It is not about region. This teacher is correct. Native English all speak as this teacher describes.
Even if some don't know about the following vowel word, they still pronounce "the" and "thee" at the correct time. Unless they are really really stupid with zero education.
THIS is what a great teacher is! I would've probably stayed in school, done homework & graduated had the teachers been like this.
What a fantastic teacher. I know this is just a short video but I can tell she loves her job and students. And they respect her as well as she respects them plus she’s appropriately dressed. We need to see more positive videos than negative. Please continue to do amazing work. The young people need more like you who seem to be genuinely interested in their learning and success. Heck I’m 52 with a college degree and you have my attention.😂 Blessings to you.
Love this. In my Southern dialect we just yeet this rule right out the window though and almost exclusively use “thuh” regardless of following letter sounds.
I'm a southern born girl too and most of the time it's thuh not thee no matter what letter starts the next word. Didn't know there were times I should have not said thuh
I'm from Michigan and I only use thuh.
I’m from New York and I never learned this either.
Canadian here, yeah I never used this rule either.
Wonderful educator!!! she definitely has her class ear. The students are so responsive and respectful
Very old school teaching...love her. ❤
I love this page, nostalgic memories of how much i enjoyed English growing up.
Glad you enjoy it!
And here I am speaking like I'm in class 😆
Der Unterricht war die Vorbereitung für's Leben ...
This isn’t a rule, but a trend. I don’t know why it’s being taught as if it is the correct way to pronounce “the”
I think it's just an unfortunate consequence of calling anything in English "a rule", when English is an infamously fickle. I think "rules" or "correctness" in English mostly just refer to what's most common among speakers.
Don't think it is a trend. This was part of my english classes back in the 90s. 😅
@@Vanessa-es2ss Trust me, I knew this when I was studying in the 80s😅..our Malaysian teachers taught us well😊..proud of my school and teachers in Malaysia..I now live in the ME, but my heart always loves Malaysia. And yes she is right, its just that even Native speakers are not knowing this shows how other speakers take true interest in learning and teaching them right♥️💯
In Britain we don't do this.
@@nate9198Thanks man! As a Polish I got confused, but made my own assumption it’s American English not British English with always and only „the” being pronounced 😎
You look absolutely stunning. Such a nice flair with that silver cloth over your shoulder.
I'm so glad to hear/see this rule being taught. I remember it.
OMG I had no idea. Thanks so much, another way to speak fancier than most natives.
Something so simple, but it makes a total difference. As someone whose mother was an English teacher, this video reminded me of her ❤
She's right. I hadnt notice this b4.
But I always say thee apple, thee accelerator or thee angle. Im so used to it, I hear it as thuh. If someone asked do I ever say thee, I would have said-- no.😅
She’s not right lol
I do say thuh for those worse.
@@guitarandrums No she is right. I had a senior teacher who used to teach in a top University but as he got older, he decided to teach in school for less burden. He also told us about it.
@@AnushkaJain-gu8im it’s not right. It’s not a consistent rule.
@@AnushkaJain-gu8im say “the office”. “The elephant”. Most people do not say thee. They still say thuh
I love your enthusiasm when you teach. You had my full attention. Thank you for the lesson. 🌻
You are so welcome!
What can "We, The Public" do
to support, advocate for, and PROTECT teachers like this?
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Vote!
please tell me you didn't pronounce it as "We, Thuh Public" lol.. "We, Thuh People".. this is not how folks speak :/
@@jessbowers
"If voting changed anything,
...they'd make it illegal."
Emma Goldman
@@johnjenkins9445
I didn't pronounce it at all.
I typed it.
Over 60 years born and bred in the UK and never consciously aware of this but its absolutely true.
Not the unicorn!
I’m 17 and learning something new
You must have enjoyed US education, then
@@phaeb yeh 😅
@@phaebnever been to the US
@@quantum-t yeeeah, right 😂
It's definitely new 😂
Excellent teacher! The students are 100% engaged. I love it! BRAVO 👏 👏 👏
Thanks.
@iamthatenglishteacher WOW, you are amazing! Reminded me of my favorite teacher ,Mrs Chesney." I will never forget her & I'm positive that your students will always remember you! (I had no idea this was your channel. I just thought it was a "soon to be viral" video showing teachers how it's done.🤷♀️🫡♥️👏👏👏
Not a native speaker but this distinction is new to me. 😮
I'm a native speaker, English born and bred and it's new to me 😂
The joy on her face as she teach breathed life into the lesson. And this will stick with them. ❤😊
I dont think this is a phonetic rule . It seems like just an accent thing.
But still , you seem like a very good teacher ❤️
No, it's a pronunciation rule for all English speakers of all accents.
@viniciusmarques9964 I'm not a native speaker , but I've had English teachers from the US, New Zealand and the UK over the years . I've asked them about this , not a single one of them have heard about this pronunciation rule.
I'm not trying to offend you , I'm just pointing out my perspective on the situation.
Either way, this is a relatively small rule that , in the grand scheme of things, is not that important.
@@viniciusmarques9964 Tldr: it's just a dialect
@@viniciusmarques9964 Nope. I'm a native English speaker from the UK (where the language originated). I've never heard anyone say thee except Americans. Brits all say thuh.
@@hannahmcintosh5343sorry, but playing the "I'm-a-native-speaker" card doesn't really work, as native speakers, overall, know *far less* about grammatical and pronunciation rules of their languages when compared to non-native speakers. That's because they didn't learn the language from zero, like non-native speakers, but rather grasped it from their parents. Do a thorough research about vowel reduction and how it works.
Thank you very much for 'thuh' lesson. Much appreciated.
Native speaker & prolific writer here. I never learned this! I just realized that I do this without thinking about it. Fascinating!
As a non-native speaker I've been asking myself this question since I started learning English about 15 years ago and I'm so grateful I finally came across "thee video" 🤣
Thee video sounds crazy to a native speaker.
I’m English and I automatically did this but actually never even thought about it 😂 amazing
Great teacher ,I perceive the passion in the teaching 😊. Lucky student
This is a new thing being taught. We are literally watching how language evolves
This isn't new.
I- Huh? NEW?
Oh. Are you new to English or something?
@@analiahedley6487I have never once said “the” as thee… it’s always been thuh. Everyone here says thuh.
@@minecraftnoob-vu3yemight be a regional thing, to me both thee and thuh are interchangeable
I honestly wonder if these kids realize how lucky they are to have such a wonderful teacher. Cherish this moment ❤
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this is just one of those things we pick up along the way, i dont think we were ever taught this specifically that i remember..
Inspiring teacher. Excellent, positive vibe.
I appreciate that!
As an African, our pronunciation is neither of the above. In Kenya 'e' is pronounced as in 'e' in 'egg'.
Swahili alphabet affect how we pronounce words.
We also learned this in germany in English class, but never noticed native speakers use this though 😅
Ich nicht :(
Because it's not a rule. I teach English to foreigners. I've never taught this because no native speaker observes this "rule".
@@Superfantastictop10 Well where does it come from then?
No one taught us native speakers to do this it just happens naturally I didn't know I've been doing this my entire life until just now
@@philv2529 As non-native I never was taught this, nor did I ever notice. I realized, though, that I never really was self-confident about by the
In Britain we don't really have this distinction, it's more "thee" sound when we are drawing out what we are saying (like when you are choosing, "I'll have thee......salmon") but maybe because our 'thuh' is closer to a vah/dah and that goes perfectly with a vowel sound ("I'll have duh'other one") but I can see how we can use thee as well depending on the word (spelling/sound etc) -
Super interesting, I'll start teaching this in class
Yeha I was thinking this
We most certainly do lol. "Thee" on vowel sounds and "thuh" on consonant sounds; the purpose of it is to improve elocution so that a person speaks clearly.
@@AmberJays the real colloquial distinction is regional
Personally, I rarely hear people say 'thee' and more 'thur' in both formal and informal conversation, regardless if it's correct or not. But, it's probably based on Regional/country dialect. Sort of like 'bARth' and 'BATH' situation
@@johnradium9994 yup, I like to think that we do it mostly when we are using the 'thee' to to indicate importance and emphasis
"It's theee host with the most".
But I've got an estuary accent so maybe it was just never meant to be!
I appreciate everything you do for those who need this information 🙏 ❤ God bless you.
You are so welcome
American here. I have a Masters degree. Never say thee it’s always thuh
Thuh truth is that this might be thee evidence we’ve been waiting for 😊
In England people says the evidence.
The aeiou is what is seen and spoken as Shakespearean English. old English language nowadays only the is spoken if you're doing a play by Shakespeare like Othello.
They should probably revoke your degree lmao
@@trinib3403 Hilariously wrong
I believe this is just an accent thing
@viniciusmarques9964 Bro is defending this minute grammar rule like his life depends on it😳
@@Its_Boki I'd see it that way too, but it's just bizarre and I'm in disbelief that so many native speakers don't actually know that and are literally calling the teacher a liar for teaching a rule they should've learned years ago.
@@viniciusmarques9964 Learn about prescriptivism vs descriptivism
@@viniciusmarques9964 well ok, that's actually fair . Nonetheless, she is a good teacher. I was only talking about the grammar rule in my previous comment.
Yeah, I assumed this was a dialect or regional difference. I've never been taught this as a native English speaker.
Almost no one says "the," unless they are trying to sound phosh, British, or are quoting Shakespeare. "Thuh" is correct in almost all cases.
Favoring usage over rule following leads to better comprehension.
Even if this vowel sound is true in some grammar book or style guide or what have you, it’s really not how most people speak. There may be regional differences, but where I live, it’s almost always “thuh.”
At the end of the day, it’s about comprehension and communication, not matching what a book says.
Hilariously wrong.
A lot of people say "thee" before a vowel. It doesn't have anything to do with sounding "posh".
@@kalecccxi333out of curiosity, where are you from? Trying to see what regions speak this way natively.
@@ImAlsoMerobiba socal
An entire life looking for the answer to this question !!!!! Excellent teacher!!!
I never even thought about this as a native english speaker
That's just not true... I never pronounce "the" as "thee" unless I'm emphasizing it. For example, "Woah, that's *the* Tom Cruise."
So does that mean “Thee” emphasizes the importance and value of the noun? “Thee Tom Cruise” or “Thee Statue of Liberty”
@@AlexanderTheGraype That's how it works with me. It's still written as "the" though, the only thing that changes is the way you pronounce it.
Edit: Pronouncing it as "thee" also emphasizes uniqueness, like there's only one Tom Cruise and Statue of Liberty
@@Gavin_M.💯💯💯
A quick Google search will help you overcome your stupidity, dear native speaker. 😊
I agree with you. I studied until University degree in the UK and listened to BBC pronunciation. I use ‘der’ to refer to general object and ‘di’ for particular object, and BBC did the same.
I also studied German, and there are more variations of the word ‘the’, der, die, du etc.
Always good
You’re always leaving awesome comments.
You’re always so kind. Always. ❤❤
Thank you !!! Knowledge truly has "Levels". Never Stop Learning !!!
You bet!
Cool