Th Words: Voiced and Voiceless th Digraph Lists + Free PDF

Th words are words with the digraph th. T and h team up to make one new sound, as in thumb. Unlike sh and ch, th has two sounds. It’s quiet in thumb and it buzzes in this. th is a digraph, not a blend. You hear one sound, not a t and then an h. Here are th words for kindergarten and 1st grade:

this, that, then, with, mother, feather, thin, thick, thumb, three, bath, math, moth, teeth, mouth, birthday

You’ll find 20 picture cards on our free th words flash cards, each marked quiet or buzz, plus the full voiced and voiceless lists and sentences on page 2. It’s free, with no email needed.

Our digraph words page puts th next to sh, ch and the rest. This series follows UFLI Foundations (sh, th, ch). Some programs teach ch before th, and either works. Voiced th comes first here, the way UFLI teaches it. Short words your child can sound out come first on each list, and harder words are marked.

The two th sounds: voiced and voiceless

Both th sounds start the same way. The tongue peeks out between the teeth, and air slides out over it. You can check it together in a mirror.

What changes is the voice. Voiceless th (also called unvoiced) is the quiet one: thumb, thin, bath. Voiced th buzzes: this, mother, feather.

The throat test. Put your hand flat on the front of your throat. Stretch the start of thumb: thhh. Nothing moves. Now stretch the start of this. You’ll feel a buzz under your fingers. Have your child feel it on your throat first, then try it on theirs.

Which one does a word use? Most early words fall into four patterns:

Pattern	Sound	Examples
Small pointing and linking words	buzz (voiced)	the, this, that, then, them, there, those
-ther in common family and weather words	buzz (voiced)	mother, father, brother, other, weather, feather
Most other words that start with th	quiet (voiceless)	thin, thumb, three
th at the end	usually quiet, but add an e and it buzzes	bath and bathe, teeth and teethe

A few words break the pattern. Panther and author keep a quiet th in the middle. Use the table as a guide, not a law. And with is said both ways across the US. Some people buzz it and some keep it quiet. Both are fine.

Voiced th words (this, mother)

UFLI teaches voiced th first, in lesson 46. That makes sense. Voiced th is in the words your child reads most. 11 of the 12 th words in the first 100 Fry sight words are voiced: the, that, with, they, this, there, their, other, then, them, these and than. Only with varies.

Voiced th at the beginning (initial)

• Sound it out: this, that, then, them, than
• With magic e: those, these
• Heart words: the, they, there. On our heart words list, the gets a heart on the whole word. In they and there, sound out the th and put the heart on the ey or the ere.

Voiced th in the middle (medial)

mother, father, brother, feather, weather, other, together

Most of these have a vowel your child hasn’t met yet. The o in mother says “uh”. Use them for hearing the buzz, and read them together.

Voiced th at the end (final)

with, bathe, breathe, smooth, soothe, teethe

With is listed here because most programs teach it as voiced, but plenty of Americans say it quietly. Look at bathe, breathe, soothe and teethe. An e after the th is a good sign it buzzes. Compare bath and bathe, teeth and teethe.

Voiceless th words (thumb, bath)

Voiceless th is the quiet one, and it’s the th in most picture words. UFLI teaches it right after voiced th, in lesson 47.

Voiceless th at the beginning (initial)

• Sound it out: thin, thick, thud
• A step harder (ending blend or nk): thump, thank, think
• Other vowel sounds: thumb (silent b), thorn (bossy r)
• th + r: three, thread

Voiceless th in the middle (medial)

bathtub, toothbrush, birthday, nothing, author

Voiceless th at the end (final)

• Sound it out: bath, math, path, moth, Beth
• With a blend: cloth, broth
• Other vowel sounds: teeth, tooth, mouth, north, south
• Longer endings: fifth, sixth

Easy th words for kindergarten

If your child reads CVC words, these th words are ready now: this, that, then, them, with, thin, thick, bath, math, path, moth. Each has one short vowel and th at one end. Several come straight from the short vowel lists: math, path, bath, that and than from our short a words, and moth and cloth from short o words.

Stay on these until they come without sounding out. The longer lists above can wait.

Th words with pictures

Your child can hear th in picture words even before they can read them:

thumb, thorn, thread, thimble, thunder, moth, bath, math, path, cloth, feather, mother, father, weather, smoothie, toothbrush, teeth, earth, sloth, birthday

All 20 are on our free th words flash cards. Most voiced words can’t be picture cards, because you can’t draw this or that. The cards run quiet th first, with one row of buzz words, and each card says “quiet” or “buzz” in the corner.

Th, thr and the “f” mix-up

thr is a blend. In three, throw and thread you hear th and then an r. That makes thr a consonant blend with a digraph inside. Wait until plain th words are easy, then add it.

The f and d swap. Many young children say “fum” for thumb or “dis” for this. Reading th and saying th are different skills. If your child reads thumb on the page but says “f” for th when they talk, that is a speech sound, and a speech-language pathologist can check it. You can practice either way with the lists and sentences here. For reading, what matters is that your child sees t and h together and says one sound.

Sentences to read aloud

These use th words, short vowel words and a few common words (the, a, is, has).

1. This is a thin moth.
2. Math is fun.
3. Beth has a bath.
4. Then the dog ran up the path.
5. That is a thick rug.
6. Seth sat with them.

After each sentence, point to a th and ask: quiet or buzz? This, then, that and them buzz, and so does with for most people. Thin, moth, math, bath, path and thick are quiet.

How to practice th

Little and often works best here.

1. Quiet or buzz? Put your hands on your throats. Say a word from the lists and your child calls out “quiet” or “buzz”. Start with words far apart, like thumb and this, or bath and mother.
2. Mirror check. Say thin in a mirror together. Can you see the tongue peek out? That’s th.
3. Sort the cards. Cut out the flash cards and sort them into a quiet pile and a buzz pile. Then read each pile.
4. Read and write. Our one-page th worksheets have a decodable sentence to read, trace and write: this is a moth and math is fun. For a mix of digraphs, try chick in a shell and shells on the path.
5. Add an e. Write bath and read it. Add an e: bathe. The quiet th now buzzes. Try teeth and teethe too. For sentence practice, our digraph sentence builder mixes th with sh and ch.

You’ll find all of our digraph th worksheets free in the printables library. They are created to align with lessons 46 and 47 of UFLI Foundations’ scope and sequence. See our worksheets in UFLI order.

If your child sees th but reads thin as “tin”, they’re reading one letter at a time. Ask them to underline both letters before they say the word. Hearing each sound on its own helps here, and that’s what our reading games do.

Questions parents ask

How do you explain the th sound to a child? Show it first. Put your tongue between your teeth so it just peeks out, and blow gently: thhh. Tell them t and h team up to make that one sound. Then let them feel the buzz version on your throat with this.

How can you tell if th is voiced or voiceless? Use the throat test. Put a hand on the front of your throat and stretch the th. A buzz means voiced (this, mother). Nothing means voiceless (thumb, bath). The pattern table above covers most early words.

What are voiced and unvoiced th words? Voiced th words buzz: the, this, that, then, mother, feather. Unvoiced th words, also called voiceless, are quiet: thin, thick, thumb, bath, teeth.

What words start with th for kids? Easy ones to sound out: this, that, then, them, thin, thick, thud. Picture words to hear: thumb, thorn, thimble, thunder, three.

What are 20 words that end with th? bath, math, path, moth, cloth, broth, Beth, with, smooth, teeth, tooth, mouth, north, south, both, earth, sloth, month, fifth, sixth. All are quiet except smooth, which buzzes, and with, which goes either way.

My child says “fum” for thumb. Is that normal? Lots of young children do it. th is one of the harder sounds to say, and many kids use f or d instead for a while. It doesn’t stop them reading th words. If it still comes out as f and you’re concerned, a speech-language pathologist can check it.

The takeaways

• th has two sounds: quiet (voiceless) in thumb and bath, and buzz (voiced) in this and mother.
• The throat test settles it: hand on the throat, feel for the buzz.
• Start with the small voiced words (this, that, then, them), then the quiet CVC words (thin, bath, math, moth). That’s UFLI’s order, lessons 46 and 47.
• thr is a blend, and saying f for th is a speech sound, not a reading problem.
• Print the free th words flash cards: 20 picture cards marked quiet or buzz, plus the full lists and sentences. For more, see every digraph worksheet.

Lesson numbers are cited for alignment only. This post and its PDF are our own original work, not created by nor endorsed by UFLI or the University of Florida.