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 there's in American English
DHAIRZ
Start here
Americans pronounce there's as DHAIRZ (/ðɛrz/). You'll hear it in sentences like "There's no easy way to say this" or "There's a path through the trees" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "there's".
1 syllable, 3 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
air/ɛr/
Start with the 'eh' vowel mouth position. Pull the tongue back and up while flaring the lips for the 'r'.
z/z/
Same position as S, but add vocal cord vibration. Feel the buzz.
In real conversation
Hear "there's" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"I believe there's a problem with the alarm."
ahy buh·LEEV DHAIRZ uh PRAH·bluhm wihth dhee uh·LARM
"The alarm will sound if there's a problem."
dhee uh·LARM wihl SOWND ihf DHAIRZ uh PRAH·bluhm
"There's a beautiful park near the harbor."
DHAIRZ uh BYOO·tuh·fuhl PARK NEER dhuh HAR·ber
"There's a lot of confusion about the new policy."
DHAIRZ uh LAHT uhv kuhn·FYOO·zhuhn uh·BOWT dhuh noo PAH·luh·see
"There's a path through the trees."
DHAIRZ uh PATH throo dhuh TREEZ
"There's no easy way to say this."
DHAIRZ NOH EE·zee WAY tuh SAY dhihs
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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
Pronouncing the "R" too clearly.
Americans use a relaxed retroflex R — the tongue curls back rather than rolling. The R is one continuous sound with the vowel before it, not two separate sounds.
… (no R)→… r (curl the tongue)
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How do I pronounce the R in "there's"?
Americans use a relaxed retroflex R: the tongue curls back rather than rolling, and the R is one continuous sound with the vowel before it — not two separate sounds. Don't try to pronounce a separate vowel followed by a separate R. Treat them as a single shape.
Is the American pronunciation of "there's" 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 "DHAIRZ" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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