Written TH is pronounced several ways.
I wonder how an American pronounces…
with
/wɪð/
In natural speech, we don’t say words separately.
We connect them together. We link them.
On this page, we learn
the secret of linking…
with + a, an, the
First, let’s look at … with + a, an
th + vowel sound
[linking pattern #1]
with a … with an
/ˈwɪ–ðə/ … /ˈwɪ–ðən/
We move the th at the end of the
word ‘with‘ to the beginning of the next word.
we write: with a … with an
we say: wi tha … wi than
we stress the 1st syllable: /ˈwɪ–ðə/ … /ˈwɪ–ðən/
with a
/ˈwɪ–ðə/
With a computer, she can get
pretty much whatever she wants.
<with a
/ˈwɪ–ðə/
She just came up with a great idea.
with a
/ˈwɪ–ðə/
She just graduated
with a bachelor’s degree in linguistics.
with a
/ˈwɪ–ðə/
She’s chatting with a friend of hers.
with an
/ˈwɪ–ðən/
She burned her hand with an iron.
with an
/ˈwɪ–ðən/
She didn’t study,
so she ended up with an F on her test.
with an
/ˈwɪ–ðən/
The teacher surprised the
class with an unusual question.
with a … with an
/ˈwɪ–ðə/ … /ˈwɪ–ðən/
The lumberjack never cuts down trees with a saw.
He always cuts them down with an ax.
with a … with an
/ˈwɪ-ðə/ … /ˈwɪ–ðən/
She’s relaxing with a good book.
She’s relaxing with an interesting book.
th + same consonant th
[linking pattern #3]
We say half of each consonant.
We say the first th…/ˈwɪð/, then hold it,
then finish it at the beginning of the next word…/-ða/
with the
/ˈwɪð–ða/
with the … with a
/ˈwɪð–ða/ … /ˈwɪ–ðə/
I helped the man with the package.
I helped the man with a package.
with the … with a
/ˈwɪð–ða/ … /ˈwɪ–ða/
She’s in bed with the flu.
Last month, she was in bed with a bad cold.
with the … with a
/ˈwɪð–ða/ … /ˈwɪ–ða/
The thief ran away with the money.
The thief ran away with a bag of money.
with the … with a … with an
/ˈwɪð–ða/ … /ˈwɪ-ða/ … /ˈwɪ-ðan/
Don’t argue with the crossing guard.
Don’t argue with a crossing guard.
Don’t ever argue with an angry crossing guard.
Related Lessons:
