Practice Makes Perfect

279
P·14
EXERCISE
Pronunciation of Words with 
TH
 (2)
One of the most difficult sounds to pronounce in English is 
th
. It takes a lot of practice to be 
able to correctly pronounce this letter combination.
Sometimes 
th
 has a very pronounced and distinct sound.
myth 
thread wealthy 
third faith
Other times 
th
 is more subtle and has a softer pronunciation.
brother 
though another feather leather
Listen carefully and repeat the following sentences.
1. Anthropology is the study of human beings.
2. Moths don’t bother them either.
3. Thank you for the leather shoes. You are so thoughtful.
4. I have to buy some thread and a thimble.
5. Ethics is a theory of moral values.
6. I would rather have a feather pillow.
7. You don’t need a thesaurus for your math class.
8. Don’t throw those things at your brother.
9. I think that he thought I was through though.
10. Looking at the Earth from a satellite is thrilling and breathtaking.
11. Can you thaw something for supper?
12. This thermometer is broken; therefore I need another one.
13. It is a myth that the king sat on his throne on his birthday and thanked the goldsmith 
three times.
14. I have faith in the youth of today.
15. They don’t know the rhythm either.
16. My throat hurt throughout the day on Thursday.
17. He committed the crime with malice aforethought.
18. They sang the national anthem in class today.
19. Was that a threat?
20. The baby likes to bathe in the bath with frothy bubbles.
21. My father took the thermos to work this morning.
22. I can’t breathe with all the thick smoke in the air.
23. I am thankful that the thief didn’t steal my thoroughbred or my thesis.
24. I think Arthur is very wealthy because he just bought his thirteenth bathing suit.
25. My grandmother has trouble breathing in hot and humid weather.
26. They did a thorough search beneath the bridge.
27. I think that there were thirty thousand moths in the theatre.
28. Don’t bother me please. I have a toothache.
29. On the third Thursday of every month, we buy thirty-three spools of thread.
30. I think that the thunder bothers my grandfather.
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 280
practice makes perfect Basic 
English
P·15
EXERCISE
When 
TH
 is not Pronounced 
TH
Sometimes the letter combination 
th
 is not pronounced as such.
It can be pronounced as a 
t
 sound as in:
anthill 
Thomas courthouse
Or it can be silent, as in:
asthma clothes clothesline
Listen carefully and repeat the following sentences.
1. The transition to adulthood has many challenges.
2. She lives in a beautiful penthouse in New York City.
3. I am happy that I don’t have an outhouse in my back yard.
4. We are going to move to Chatham.
5. There are enormous potholes on the roads in Montreal.
6. Did you ever go to Thailand?
7. I felt a little lightheaded on the plane.
8. Use the potholder to take the pot out of the oven.
9. There are many anthills on the patio in my back yard.
10. Have you ever climbed to the top of a lighthouse?
11. They were rewarded with knighthood for their bravery.
12. The rat ran down the rathole.
13. Many years ago, secretaries were required to know shorthand.
14. She had seen firsthand the effects of the experiment.
15. He wants to go into the priesthood.
16. We rent a boathouse to park our boat for the summer months.
17. The television reporters were at the courthouse today.
18. Thomas and Terry are twins.
19. I need new clothes to start school.
20. Asthma is a chronic lung disease.
21. Nelson Mandela helped to end Apartheid in South Africa.
22. Did you hang the sheets on the clothesline?
23. You forgot to put the clothespins back in the bag.
24. They are very young and not ready for parenthood.
25. A foothill is a small hill at the foot of a higher hill.
26. I looked out the porthole and finally saw land.
27. Thyme leaves are used for seasoning.
28. An isthmus is a narrow strip of land with sea on either side.
29. They say that one child in ten is asthmatic.
30. Flathead Lake is a large natural lake in northwest Montana.
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Pronunciation Exercises 
281
P·16
EXERCISE
Pronunciation of Ordinal Numbers and Fractions
The sound of 
th
 is used after each ordinal number except for all numbers ending in 1, 2, and 
3. The three exceptions to this rule are 11, 12, and 13, which take the 
-th
 ending. All letter 
endings for each ordinal number must be firmly pronounced.
1st
first 
4th
fourth 
11th eleventh
2nd second 
5th
fifth 
12th twelfth
3rd third 
6th
sixth 
13th thirteenth
21st twenty-first 
43rd forty-third 
87th eighty-seventh
38th thirty-eighth 
71st seventy-first 
64th sixty-fourth
92nd ninety-second 
55th fifty-fifth 
22nd twenty-second
To pronounce ordinal numbers that are multiples of 10 starting with 20, add -eth as the 
pronunciation ending. In the written form, the y is changed to i.
20th twentieth 
50th fiftieth 
80th eightieth
30th thirtieth 
60th sixtieth 
90th ninetieth
40th fortieth 
70th seventieth
When pronouncing fractions, if the numerator is 1, then the denominator is firmly pronounced 
with a singular ending.
1/6 
one sixth 
1/9 
one ninth 
1/17 
one seventeenth
1/3 
one third 
1/8 
one eighth 
1/11 
one eleventh
1/5 
one fifth 
1/14 
one fourteenth 
1/10 
one tenth
When the numerator is 2 or more, then the denominator is firmly pronounced with a plural 
ending.
2/6 
two sixths 
7/10 
seven tenths 
3/5 
three fifths
4/9 
four ninths 
6/8 
six eighths 
9/17 
nine seventeenths
2/3 
two thirds 
8/11 
eight elevenths 
4/21 
four twenty-firsts
Notes:
The fraction ½ is always read as 
one half
.
The fraction ¼ can be read as 
one quarter
or 
one fourth
.
The fraction ¾ can be read as 
three quarters
or 
three fourths
.
Fractions with a denominator of 12 are pronounced with an f sound and not a v sound.
12 twelve 
1/12 
one twelfth 
5/12 
five twelfths*
(*possibly the most difficult letter combination to pronounce in the English language!)
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 282
practice makes perfect Basic 
English
Listen carefully and repeat the following sentences.
1. We are now living in the twenty-first century.
(21st)
2. I need three-quarters of a cup of butter for this recipe.
(3/4)
3. My birthday is on January nineteenth.
(19th)
4. I also need one-eighth teaspoon of cinnamon for this recipe.
(1/8)
5. Christmas is on December twenty-fifth.
(25th)
6. Seventeen thirtieths of the kids in my class are boys.
(17/30)
7. Christmas Eve is on December twenty-fourth.
(24th)
8. He wants only one-quarter teaspoon of sugar in his tea.
(1/4)
9. The mortgage is due on the twelfth of every month.
(12th)
10. Valentine’s Day is on February fourteenth.
(14th)
11. Can you cut off three-sixteenths of an inch from this piece of wood?
(3/16)
12. New Year’s Eve is on December thirty-first.
(31st)
13. Can you lend me two-thirds of a cup of vegetable oil?
(2/3)
14. Five-twelfths of the girls in my class have blond hair.
(5/12)
15. My parents are celebrating their thirtieth wedding anniversary this weekend.
(30th)
16. What is on the ninety-ninth page of that book?
(99th)
17. My grandmother just had her ninety-second birthday.
(92nd)
18. They live on Forty-Seventh Avenue.
(47th)
19. Eighty eightieths, twelve twelfths, and six sixths all equal one.
(80/80) (12/12) 
(6/6)
20. My accountant works on the thirty-third floor in that building.
(33rd)
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Pronunciation Exercises 
283
21. Bill Clinton was the forty-second president of the United States.
(42nd)
22. John A. Macdonald was the first prime minister of Canada.
(1st)
23. Eighteen twenty-ninths of the people voted for Peter.
(18/29)
24. Friday the thirteenth is an unlucky day.
(13th)
25. The Second World War lasted from 1939 to1945.
(2nd)
26. The rate of interest increased seven-tenths of a percent.
(7/10)
27. I can’t believe you ate one half of the extra large pizza.
(1/2)
28. It’s even harder to believe that you also ate eleven-twelfths of the cookies.
(11/12)
29. We had a big party for his fortieth birthday.
(40th)
30. Spring is three-twelfths or one-fourth of the calendar year.
(3/12) (1/4)
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