Is three pronounced the same as free?

Th-fronting is the pronunciation of the English “th” as “f” or “v”. When th-fronting is applied, [θ] becomes [f] (for example, three is pronounced as free) and [ð] becomes [v] (for example, bathe is pronounced as bave).

Why do I say free instead of three?

Blaxter says that the influence of London and the South East has spread southern pronunciations over the rest of the country — which is why a large minority of people in Hull and Plymouth now say “FREE” even though their parents grew up saying “THREE.”

How do you say something is free?

complimentary. We can use complimentary to talk about something provided for free, often as a gift.

Why do Londoners say Fink instead of think?

Essex. This county’s dialect is so distinct, you can immediately tell if someone comes from Essex. They’ll pronounce words like no as NA-hw and drop the th sound from words like think, so they’d say fink instead.

Is it acceptable to pronounce three as tree or Chree?

It’s acceptable to pronounce three as tree. That’s how the Irish and Jamaicans pronounce it. It’s close enough. Don’t pronounce it as chree or sree though. Some learners of English have told me that they pronounce it as fwee because that’s how Londoners pronounce it.

How do you say “three” with an American accent?

Americans say “chr” instead of “tr” so both pronunciations will sound as if you say tree. If you want to say three with an American accent, you must allow the air to flow between the tongue and your teeth.

How do you pronounce the th sound in AAVE?

Within a word, -th (unvoiced) is frequently pronounced as an f sound. This also occurs at the end of the word in certain environments. The voiced -th may be voiced as a v sound. Of course, speakers of AAVE can also speak with a General American accent, which would include the th sound.

Does a non-native speaker need to learn how to pronounce these sounds?

A non-native speaker aiming to speak without a strong accent definitely needs to learn how to pronounce these sounds. However, it won’t generally destroy your comprehensibility if you replace them with other sounds.