One syllable: These.
theez
/ðiz/
These is pronounced theez (/ðiz/). It has one syllable (These), with the stress on "These". These refers to a demonstrative pronoun or determiner indicating specific items close to the speaker, or a plural noun meaning members of a group previously mentioned. In speech, these is typically pronounced as a single, short /ðiːz/ in careful speech or /ðiz/ in rapid, casual talk. It functions to identify multiple items or people near the speaker within a discourse context.
nounThese refers to a demonstrative pronoun or determiner indicating specific items close to the speaker, or a plural noun meaning members of a group previously mentioned. In speech, these is typically pronounced as a single, short /ðiːz/ in careful speech or /ðiz/ in rapid, casual talk. It functions to identify multiple items or people near the speaker within a discourse context.
"I like these apples on the counter."
"These days, technology changes fast."
"Can you hand me these papers over there?"
In careful speech you typically start with the voiced dental fricative /ð/ as in this, followed immediately by a voiced alveolar sibilant /z/. The vowel is lengthened in /ðiːz/ if you’re stressing the determiner, otherwise the fast form /ðiz/ is common. Tip: place the tongue blade lightly between the upper and lower teeth for /ð/, and finish with the tip raised to let /z/ flow. Listen to native samples and mirror their timing, with approximately a 1–2 ms pause before a stressed following noun.
Two frequent errors: (1) pronouncing it as /diz/ by replacing the dental fricative with a /d/ release, (2) lengthening the vowel too long as /iːz/. Correct by ensuring /ð/ is produced with the tongue touching the upper teeth, not the tongue tip to the bottom teeth, and keep the following vowel as short as the following sibilant allows, producing a crisp /z/ without voicing an intermediate vowel.
Across US/UK/AU, the core phoneme is the same: /ð/ plus /iz/ or /iːz/. In US, you’ll often hear /ðiz/ with a short /i/ reduced close to a schwa in rapid speech, while UK RP tends to maintain a slightly more rounded /iː/ in careful pronunciation. Australian tends toward relaxed /ðiz/ with subtle vowel shortening in fast speech. The main differences are vowel quality of the /i/ and the length of the preceding “e” vowel in deliberate enunciation.
The challenge lies in the initial voiced dental fricative /ð/ and the adjacent /z/ or /s/ + vowel sequence. Many speakers default to a /d/ or /z/ cluster, losing the dental contact and subtle voicing. Also, in rapid speech the vowel can reduce, making the sequence sound like /diz/ or /dəs/. Focus on the tongue-to-teeth contact for /ð/ and keep the following /z/ continuous voicing with minimal vowel nucleus.
No silent letters here. 'These' uses all its letters, with the dental fricative /ð/ and the voiced sibilant /z/. The spelling aligns with pronunciation: the th digraph represents the teeth-contact sound, and the -es ending is realized as /z/ when the base word ends with a voiced sound, which is the case here. The only learning nuance is linking the dental contact so the /ð/ sound isn’t skipped in rapid speech.
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The word these comes from Old English þās, a demonstrative determiner corresponding to modern English these. It is related to the proximal demonstrative that developed from Proto-Germanic *þata/þatiz and shared roots with the word that and the plural demonstratives those and these. In Old English, forms like þās and þisse carried the sense of proximity to the speaker, marking items near the discourse focus. Over centuries, pronunciation simplified and the spelling stabilized into these in Middle English, aligning with the general drift toward reduced unstressed vowels and flat, clipped syllables in everyday speech. The singular demonstratives this and the plural these emerged from the same demonstrative family, with changes in vowel quality and consonantal articulation driven by shifts in Middle English phonology. By Early Modern English, around the 15th to 17th centuries, these had become a stable plural proximal determiner/pronoun used widely in both written and spoken forms, paralleling other distal/proximal demonstratives that also stabilized in form. The word’s current pronunciation reflects a typical modern English diphthong in the first element (the initial th sound) followed by a voiced z, with the alveolar boundary determining the sibilant quality. First known use as a demonstrative pronoun/determiner appears in medieval texts, with evolving spellings toward the modern standard by the 18th century, when standardized orthography consolidated with modern syntax.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "These" and can often be used interchangeably.
🔄 These words have opposite meanings to "These" and show contrast in usage.
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Words that rhyme with "These"
-ase sounds
Practice with these rhyming pairs to improve your pronunciation consistency:
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