student asking question

Why does he say the word 'the' as "thee", not "thuh"?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

In speech, 'the' word the can be pronounced "thee" for emphasis. When 'the' is used for emphasis, 'the' is always pronounced "thee" never "thuh." For example, "I spoke to the[thee] king!" (=I spoke to the actual king.)

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