THE

the strong form BrE AmE ðiː , weak forms ði, ðə —The English as a foreign language learner is advised to use ðə before a consonant sound (the boy, the house) , ði before a vowel sound (the egg, the hour) . Native speakers, however, sometimes ignore this distribution, in particular by using ðə before a vowel (which in turn is usually reinforced by a preceding ʔ ), or by using ðiː in any environment, though especially before a hesitation pause. Furthermore, some speakers use stressed ðə as a strong form, rather than the usual ðiː .