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AVim Posted 19 years ago
Speech & Pronunciation

How to pronounce th + s?

I feel it difficult to pronounce words like 'clothes', 'mammoths', 'months'...

The pronouncing of 'th' + 's' makes my tongue busy, esp when such words appear in a long sentence.
I wonder if it's okey to omit the 'th' sound of these words in sentences, or are there any tricks for pronouncing them?

Thanks in advance.
  

Top answer

" The others are trickier, and even native speakers find "ths" an awkward combination. I can't recommend entirely omitting the "th," but you can shorten it. Maybe someone with more linguistic expertise can better describe the sound to you.

— Khoff

  • " The others are trickier, and even native speakers find "ths" an awkward combination.
  • I can't recommend entirely omitting the "th," but you can shorten it.
  • Maybe someone with more linguistic expertise can better describe the sound to you.
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4 Answers
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"Clothes" is easy -- it can be (and usually is) pronounced "cloze." The others are trickier, and even native speakers find "ths" an awkward combination. I can't recommend entirely omitting the "th," but you can shorten it. Maybe someone with more linguistic expertise can better describe the sound to you.
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Hi,
The others are trickier, and even native speakers find "ths" an awkward combination. I can't recommend entirely omitting the "th," but you can shorten it. Maybe someone with more linguistic expertise can better describe the sound to you.
Sounds are frequently missing in rapid native-speaker speech, and the voiceless dental fricative preceding a voiceless alveolar fric
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Many people find this very difficult! I have made a video explaining the sound on my American English pronunciation website:
How to pronounce THS in American English

Also, since you asked about 'clothes', you might find this one helpful:
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I pronouce the "ths" in clothes as it's spelt which I believe is the correct and original pronunciation. I don't have any difficulty with it. It'll take a bit of tongue twisting but you'll get there with a bit of practice.
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