Focused phonics guideConsonant patterns

Why does th sound different in thin and this?

Quick answer

TH commonly represents two related sounds: voiceless /th/ as in thin and voiced /th/ as in this. Children benefit from hearing and feeling the contrast.

Pattern to notice

TH digraph: voiced and voiceless

th

Where this fits in the phonics journey

Pattern decoding

This concept builds beyond basic CVC reading by teaching a reusable spelling or sound pattern. The prerequisite and next-step links on this page show the surrounding learning sequence.

What the child should be able to do

Read common th words while distinguishing the voiced and voiceless pronunciations through listening and articulation.

When this pattern does not apply

Do not teach only one th pronunciation or classify a legitimate voiced/voiceless contrast as an exception. Accent should not be treated as a decoding error.

Reading use

Use tongue position and voicing to distinguish th in words such as thin, bath, this, that and then.

Tiny Steps curriculum connection

Direct lesson alignment

  • Early PhonicsLesson 15: Digraphs TH and KN
  • Advanced PhonicsLesson 6: Digraphs SH and TH

How to teach this pattern

  • Contrast voiced and voiceless examples in a small set.
  • Keep decoding practice separate from accent judgement.

Common confusions to watch for

  • Teaching only one th pronunciation and treating the other as an exception.
  • Replacing th with another sound without first noticing tongue position and voicing.

Simple practice ideas

  • Sort decoded th words into voice-off and voice-on groups.
  • Use a mirror to check tongue placement while reading.

Learning sequence

Explore related phonics patterns

More from consonant patterns

These links are selected from the published Tiny Steps phonics graph, prioritising nearby patterns in the same family before adjacent curriculum concepts.

Browse all phonics resources →
CH digraphIn early phonics, ch is commonly taught as one grapheme representing /ch/ in words such as chat, chip and much. Less common pronunciations can be introduced later.KN and the silent KIn familiar words beginning with kn, the spelling represents /n/: knot sounds like not. Children can recognise the written pair while attending to the single initial sound.NG digraphN and g frequently work together as the grapheme ng, representing /ng/ in words such as sing, ring and long.SH digraphThe letters s and h frequently work together as the digraph sh, representing /sh/ in words such as ship, shop and fish.

Related Tiny Steps resources

Keep the pattern inside the bigger reading pathway

Back to Phonics & Reading →
Read the related guide/blog/digraphs-and-tricky-wordsRead the related guide/blog/phonics-rules-for-beginnersUse focused practice/free-word-building-games-for-kids

Your next learning step

Continue with the learning path that matches this need

If this is the same need you see in your child, the relevant programme is the most useful next step.

Explore the Tiny Steps phonics programme