How to pronounce TH: stop saying "sink" when you mean "think"
Why /θ/ and /ð/ are the sounds learners swap most often, and a 30-second drill that fixes them for good.
HolosAccent·
·2 min read
·Updated 20 Oct 2026
Most languages simply do not have the TH sounds, so the brain swaps in the closest sound it already knows. Think comes out as “sink”, “fink” or “tink”; this becomes “zis”, “dis” or “vis”. Native speakers usually still understand you, but they notice it every single time.
The good news: TH is one of the easiest sounds to fix, because you can see and feel what you are doing.
Two sounds, one tongue position
English has two TH sounds. They use exactly the same mouth position; the only difference is your voice.
| Sound | Examples | Voice |
|---|---|---|
/θ/ |
think, three, bath, month | voiceless — only air |
/ð/ |
this, the, mother, breathe | voiced — your throat buzzes |
Put a hand on your throat. Say a long “ssss”, then a long “zzzz”. The second one buzzes. That buzz is the whole difference between /θ/ and /ð/.
Where the tongue goes
- Relax your jaw and open your mouth slightly.
- Put the tip of your tongue lightly between your teeth — just the tip, not the whole tongue.
- Blow air gently over it. Do not press, and do not bite.
Hold a finger in front of your lips. If the tip of your tongue can almost touch it, you are doing it right.
The most common mistake is moving the tongue back to make the sound “cleaner”. The moment the tongue hides behind the teeth, you get /s/, /t/ or /f/ again.
The 30-second drill
Say each pair slowly, then fast. Feel the tongue move forward on the second word.
- sink — think
- sank — thank
- tree — three
- zen — then
- day — they
Then read this sentence three times, a little faster each time:
I think this thing is worth three thousand.
Why a teacher may miss it — and an app will not
When you speak a whole sentence, a listener’s brain fills the gaps, so a missing TH is easy to overlook. HolosAccent scores every sound separately, so a think that came out as “sink” is flagged on the exact sound — /θ/ → /s/ — instead of just lowering an overall score.
Two minutes a day on TH words is usually enough to make the new tongue position automatic within a couple of weeks.
