voiceless th words list

Free voiceless TH words list and pictures

Voiceless TH words

Here are some handy resources for teaching and learning voiceless TH words. On this page you will find word lists and picture cards that you can use for pronunciation and speaking activities with learners who are struggling with this challenging sound.

For many English speakers, pronouncing the /θ/ sound is effortless, but for some it takes quite a bit of practice to master.  It is undoubtedly one of the most difficult phonemes for ESL learners to get their mouths around.

The voiceless TH sound is sometimes also called the soft TH sound, with the voiced TH known as the hard TH respectively. More technically it is termed as the voiceless dental fricative phoneme /θ/.

If you are not familiar with this term, it refers to words in which the TH is pronounced without any buzzing in your throat. Think of words such as thanks, and three, then compare them to voiced TH words like them and mother. Notice the difference when you say them aloud?

Voiceless TH words lists

At the top of this page, there is a free printable word list above that you can download. This PDF has just under 100 TH words that are unvoiced. Below you will find a more comprehensive collection of words. Both lists have been broken up into 3 parts in which the TH sound can be found in the initial, medial, and final positions.

Initial position

thank

thankful

thatch

thaw

theater

theatrical

theft

theme

theory

therapy

thermal

thermometer

thermos

thesaurus

thesis

thick

thicken

thicket

thief

thigh

thimble

thin

thing

think

third

thirst

thirsty

thirteen

thirty

thistle

thongs

Thor

thorax

thorn

thorough

thought

thoughtful

thousand

thrash

thread

threat

three

threw

thrift

thrill

thrive

throat

throb

throne

throng

throttle

through

throw

thrust

thud

thug

thumb

thumbnail

thumbtack

thump

thunder

Thursday

Medial position

anything

arithmetic

athlete

authentic

author

bathrobe

bathtub

birthday

breathless

cathedral

earthquake

earthworm

Gothic

healthy

hypothesis

marathon

method

mouthguard

mouthwash

mythical

nothing

panther

pathology

pathway

python

rethink

ruthless

something

stethoscope

telepathy

threshold

toothache

toothbrush

toothpaste

toothpick

truthful

wealthy

worthwhile

Final position

bath

behemoth

beneath

birth

blacksmith

booth

both

breadth

breath

broth

cloth

death

depth

earth

eighth

faith

fifth

filth

froth

girth

goth

growth

health

hearth

heath

labyrinth

length

mammoth

math

megalith

month

moth

mouth

myth

ninth

north

oath

path

pith

sabbath

sheath

sleuth

sloth

south

stealth

strength

teeth

tenth

tooth

uncouth

unearth

warmth

width

with

worth

wraith

wrath

wreath

youth

zenith

Voiceless TH words with pictures

Below are 24 picture cards that you can use for pronunciation games and other fun learning activities. The flashcards contain mostly simple words that many learners will already be familiar with.

Some interesting ways to use these flashcards when teaching include using them for – 

Sentence prompts. Pick one or more cards at random and ask learners to create a sentence with the word/words.

Name the missing word. Place several cards on the table or board and let your students look at them for a moment. Next, ask them to turn around or cover their eyes and remove one card. Allow students to look at the cards again. They are to name the missing word.

Matching games. Print two sets of cards to play memory matching games. You can also cut the words from the cards so that the picture and words can be matched.

Make anchor charts. Younger learners will enjoy cutting out the cards and sticking them to a large piece of cardstock. The posters they create can be hung on the wall for reference.

Related activities

For some pronunciation fun, check out the TH sound tongue twisters. These entertaining yet difficult to say sentences use alliteration with both voiced and voiceless TH words.

There are also some pages of minimal pairs that you can use to practise the TH sound. Have a look at the TH and F, the TH and D, and the S and TH minimal pairs pages. There you will also find pronunciation guides, picture cards, and sentences

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