How to pronounce these in American English

IPA /ðiz/ Syllables 1 · dheez Stress 1st syllable

DHEEZ

Start here

Americans pronounce these as DHEEZ (/ðiz/). The TH in "these" 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), what happens when a function word stops trying to be heard. It comes out as DHEEZ. You'll hear it in sentences like "Do you have another one of these?" or "These are the ones I was talking about" — more examples below.

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "these".

1 syllable, 3 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.

dh/ð/

Place your tongue tip between or behind your front teeth, turn your vocal cords on, and push air through the gap.

ee/i/

Pull the corners of your lips back slightly. Arch the middle-front of your tongue high toward the roof of the mouth.

z/z/

Same position as S, but add vocal cord vibration. Feel the buzz.

In real conversation

Hear "these" in the wild.

Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.

"Do you have another one of these?"

doo yuh HAV uh·NUH·dher wuhn uhv DHEEZ

"I need to consult with my team before accepting these conditions."

ahy NEED tuh kuhn·SUHLT wihth mahy TEEM buh·FOR uhk·SEHP·tuhng DHEEZ kuhn·DIH·shuhnz

"Let's delegate these action items before the deadline approaches."

LEHTS DEH·luh·gayt DHEEZ A·shuhn AHY·duhmz buh·FOR dhuh DEHD·lahyn uh·PROH·chuhz

"The weather has been absolutely gorgeous these past few days."

dhuh WEH·dher huhz bihn ab·suh·LOOT·lee GOR·juhs DHEEZ PAST FYOO DAYZ

"These days are easy because of the breeze."

DHEEZ DAYZ er EE·zee buh·KUHZ uhv dhuh BREEZ

"These results are exactly what we wanted."

DHEEZ ruh·ZUHLTS er ihg·ZAKT·lee wuht wee WAHN·tuhd

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Questions

Questions people ask about this.

Is the American pronunciation of "these" 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 "DHEEZ" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.