IPA reference · consonant
θ — voiceless dental fricative
The tongue tip contacts or protrudes slightly between the teeth and air passes over it without voicing.
Also called: theta, th sound (unvoiced)
How to make the voiceless dental fricative
Put the tongue tip lightly against the back of the upper front teeth — or just between the teeth — and blow. It should be visible in a mirror.
English reference points: think, bath, three. If you speak English natively you already produce this sound — the work is recognising it and placing it where the target language wants it.
Languages that use it
Sounds it gets confused with
Most pronunciation errors are not random — they are a substitution of the nearest sound the speaker already owns. These are the usual substitutions for θ, and each one is a minimal-pair drill waiting to happen.
The most common substitution worldwide — "think" becomes "sink".
Common in some English dialects and among French and German speakers.
Typical substitution from speakers of languages with no fricative in that region.
What this means for learners
Rare across the world’s languages — present in only about 4% of them — which is why almost every learner of English struggles with it.
Teaching this sound
Describing a sound in words gets a student roughly half the way there. The other half is hearing it produced correctly, immediately after producing it incorrectly, with both versions available to replay. That is the argument for recording during the lesson rather than after it: the student leaves with your model of θ attached to the actual words they got wrong, not to an abstract chart.
Frequently asked questions
What sound does the IPA symbol θ make?
θ is the voiceless dental fricative. The tongue tip contacts or protrudes slightly between the teeth and air passes over it without voicing. In English you can hear it in: think, bath, three.
How do you pronounce θ?
Put the tongue tip lightly against the back of the upper front teeth — or just between the teeth — and blow. It should be visible in a mirror.
Which languages have the voiceless dental fricative?
Among the languages covered here: Greek (θάλασσα, “sea”); Spanish (zapato, “shoe (Spain)”); Arabic (ثلاثة, “three”).
What is the difference between θ and s?
The most common substitution worldwide — "think" becomes "sink".