Gramer Girl here. I'm Mignon Fogredy, better known as Grammar Girl. This week I have a

quick and dirty tip about how to pronounce the word the, and a meaty middle about the

difference between effect with an A and effect with an E. Did you know there are two ways

to pronounce the word the, and the rule that governs which pronunciation you choose

is kind of like how you choose between A and An. I didn't know this until I started

the Grammar Girl podcast and people wrote into complain that I was doing it wrong. Then

I checked the Marion Webster dictionary because you'd be amazed how many times people tell

me I'm doing something wrong without checking first that they know what they're talking

about. And low and behold, they were right. There are pronunciation guidelines that I

never learned. At one of my book signings I talked about this with the attendees and a

lot of them said they were taught this rule in choir class. I never took choir so maybe

that's why I didn't know. Here's the deal.

Pronounce it the if the next word starts with a vowel sound and pronounce it the if the

next word starts with a consonant sound. Just like with A versus An, it's not the first

letter of the next word that matters. It's the first sound.

Here are some examples when the next word starts with a consonant sound. Did Ardvark bring

the cheese platter? Where is the universal remote? Note that universal starts with the letter

U, but it starts with a consonant sound, a Y sound, universal. And here are some examples

when the next word starts with a vowel sound. I prefer the effervescent water. Did

squiggly get the MRI? Again, note that MRI starts with a consonant M, but it starts with

a vowel sound, E, the MRI. The big exception to these rules is that people also use the

pronunciation when they want extra emphasis or to indicate that something is important.

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