How do you pronounce “they’re”?
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There is a subtle difference for me. It’s hard to describe and I am not a linguist, but it’s like my mouth is a little bit tighter when I’m referring to the possessive their.
I hadn’t thought about it before, but on reflection, I do too. And I wouldn’t be surprised if most people do.
Exaggerated a bit for effect, it would be more or less:
There = thehr
Their = thayr
They’re = thay-r
“There” is just simple and straightforward with a pure short ‘e’ sound and no particular stresses.
“Their” has more of a long ‘a’ than a short ‘e’ sound, and a bit of stress on the vowel sound.
“They’re” also has more of a long ‘a’ sound and it’s pronounced just a fraction longer than in “their”, and there’s a very slight pause between the vowel sound and the ‘r’.
Huh… learn something new every day.
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The most bizarre one for me is pronouncing the plural of woman as “wimmin.” Can’t explain it, can’t work around it. It is what it is.
Why is that bizarre? That’s how you’re supposed to pronounce it.
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I wonder if it’s conditioned by word stress. “There” is usually the object of a phrase (and therefore stressed), while “their” usually modifies a following noun that gets the stress instead.
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I guess you’re a native speaker. As a foreigner, I can only nod my head. We know.
They’re/their/there are completely different words. They mean different things and they’re pronounced ever so slightly different, and you’ll get you hand chopped off by a centimeter ruler if you do it wrong.
“There” is clearly longer than “their”.
“There” is one tone. “Their” is rising.
It differs by region and dialect. The English speaking world has wildly different pronunciations, even within relatively close proximity.
Honestly I thought the distinction was just American but you’re right, I think English uses slight intonation for context on nouns/verbs/prefixes but in a way we don’t always write down or care about.
Atlantic Canada calling:
- There: Th-air
- Their: Thur
It’s ther (or thehr, if that makes it easier to hear in your head) theyr and theyur
Seriously. There is a shorter word when pronounced, their has that sharp I/y sound, but cuts off right after the r. They’re is pronounced with the they-are slurred like all contractions should be.
This is why I never understood the confusion with which spelling to use. Just say it in your head.
You should use the proper spelling. Pronunciation does not equal meaning when reading.
I had a friend from australia who pronounced every vowel of a word distinctly…. so consecutive vowels like ei or ea or ou, somehow she’d enunciate them distinctly.
Maybe it’s a US thing? I just tried it and I pronounce them exactly the same.
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I think I could hear it (am native English speaker from the UK), but it’s definitely not how I speak. Both words sound exactly the same when I pronounce them.
