The definite article "the"

In spoken language, people pronounce the definite article "the" in two different ways:
  • stressed: /ði/
  • unstressed: /ðə/
Listen to the text and click on the nouns that require the article "the" pronounced as /ði/.

Der bestimmte Artikel "the"

In der gesprochenen Sprache wird der bestimmte Artikel "the" auf zwei verschiedene Arten ausgesprochen:
  • betont: /ði/
  • unbetont: /ðə/
Höre dir den Text an und klicke die Nomen an, deren Begleiter "the" als /ði/ ausgesprochen wird.
 
 
de
  • The man enters the bar and looks around. Then he sees her. The woman looks beautiful. When she notices him, she looks into the eyes of the man. During the afternoon he had felt very nervous. Now he thinks that the evening will turn out great. He walks towards the lady , gives her a kiss and hands her the orange flower.
 
Übung wiederholen ?
 
 
 
Once more, look at the words that require the article "the" pronounced as /ði/. What could possibly be the rule?
Schau dir erneut die Wörter an, die mit dem bestimmten Artikel "the" ausgesprochen als /ði/ stehen. Wie könnte die mögliche Regel dafür sein?
 
 
de
  1. In front of words that start with a consonant-sound (like car, boy, woman, man, ball), the article "the"…
     
    • is pronounced as /ðə/.
       
    • is pronounced as /ði/.
       
  2. In front of words that start with a vowel-sound (like apple, eye, evening, afternoon, example), the article "the"…
     
    • is pronounced as /ði/.
       
    • is pronounced as /ðə/.
       
Übung wiederholen ?
 
 
 
You pronounce the article "the" as /ði/ in front of words that start with a vowel-sound: the apple, the evening, the eye, the example, the oak, the ears, the arm, the idea, the egg.
You pronounce the article "the" as /ðə/ in front of words that start with a consonant-sound: the car, the cat, the sword, the man, the girl, the table, the kitchen, the book, the door.
Note: the indefinite articles "a" or "an" follow the same rules.
Du sprichst den Artikel "the" als /ði/ aus, wenn er vor Wörtern steht, die mit einem Vokallaut beginnen: the apple, the evening, the eye, the example, the oak, the ears, the arm, the idea, the egg.
Du sprichst den Artikel "the" als /ðə/ aus, wenn er vor Wörtern steht, die mit einem Konsonantenlaut beginnen: the car, the cat, the sword, the man, the girl, the table, the kitchen, the book, the door.
Beachte: die unbestimmten Artikel "a" oder "an" unterliegen der selben Regel.
 
That's it with pronunciation. Good job!
Das ist alles zur Aussprache. Gut gemacht!!
Fahre mit Schreiben und Sprechen fort