dh/ð/
Place your tongue tip between or behind your front teeth, turn your vocal cords on, and push air through the gap.
How to pronounce that in American English
DHAT
Start here
Americans pronounce that as DHAT (/ðæt/). The TH in "that" can be produced with the tongue tip pressing just behind the upper teeth rather than coming all the way through — an easier, faster articulation. This is called the Quick TH (the, this, that), how Americans collapse little words. It comes out as DHAT. You'll hear it in sentences like "That man is very sad" or "That is the other one" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "that".
1 syllable, 3 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
a/æ/
Drop the jaw noticeably. Keep the body of the tongue low and forward, and don't let the back of the tongue raise toward the soft palate. Pull the lip corners back slightly, almost a starting smile.
t/t/
Touch the tip or front edge of your tongue to the roof of your mouth just behind your teeth. Keep your jaw relaxed. Stop the air, then release with a puff.
In real conversation
Hear "that" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"A black hole has a gravitational pull so strong that light cannot escape."
uh BLAK HOHL huhz uh gra·vuh·TAY·shuh·nuhl PUUL SOH STRAHNG dhuht LAHYT KA·naht uh·SKAYP
"All well that ends well, they tell."
AHL wehl dhuht EHNDZ wehl dhay TEHL
"Are you part of the guard that guards the yard?"
ar yoo PART uhv dhuh GARD dhuht GARDZ dhuh YARD
"Can you bring me that thing over there?"
kuhn yuh BRIHNG mee dhat thihng OH·ver DHAIR
"Can you pass me that cup and that glass?"
kuhn yoo PAS mee DHAT KUHP and DHAT GLAS
"Can you play that tune on the guitar?"
kuhn yoo PLAY dhat TOON ahn dhuh guh·TAR
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Watch out
Common pronunciation mistakes in American English.
The textbook way isn't wrong — it's just not how anyone actually says it.
01
Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.
In "that", the "t" is not released — the articulators get into position but hold without the burst of air. Air stops but there's no release burst — the articulators hold position.
that→DHAT
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
Is the American pronunciation of "that" different from British English?
American English uses different vowel shapes, a relaxed retroflex R, and connected-speech tricks like flap-T and glottal-stop T that British Received Pronunciation generally avoids. The respell "DHAT" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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