When should 'the' be pronounced 'thuh' and when 'thee'?
I heard that 'the' should be used as 'thee' before vowels and in some particular cases. All other cases should employ 'thuh'. What are the 'particular cases'?
And when is 'a' pronounced 'eh' and when 'uh'?
Answer
The 'thee' sound is used in front of words starting with a vowel sound (of which 'United States' is NOT one) such as 'apple', 'elephant', 'ink', 'orange', and 'ultrasound device'.
It is also used where one is called upon to distinguish a special instance of something. For example you might say to me 'I was speaking to Bill Clinton the other day'. Unsure of who you meant I might say 'Do you mean the (pronounced thee) Bill Clinton, who used to be President?' Or you could tell me that I had not spoken to the right person when reporting something, and I might reply 'I spoke to the (thee) very person who deals with such matters.
It works slightly differently with 'a'. (For this purpose you can ignore 'an'.) You say 'I saw a man breaking into that house', I reply 'Was it a (eh) man, or were there more than one? Or I could say 'Was it a (eh) man (meaning any man) or was it the one we suspect'.
This is a fine-tuned area of our language and one that is only perfected with much listening and practice, I fear.
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