they
/ᴛʜā/
pronoun
- Used to refer to the ones previously mentioned or implied.
- (Usage Problem) Used to refer to the one previously mentioned or implied, especially as a substitute for generic he. Every person has rights under the law, but they don't always know them.
- Used to refer to people in general.
Their, There, They're. Pronounced the same?
Does anyone else pronounce "they're" differently to "their" and "there"?
"and they" pronunciation | WordReference Forums
"They" pronoun
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Question to the natives: is there any difference between either of the three? Also, if you do distinguish them, it would be interesting for me to know what accent you have. I've almost convinced myself that I can sometimes hear the /j/ sound in "they're" in some accents. Am I tripping?
I'm from Victoria, Australia, and I've noticed that no-one I know and no-one I've ever heard does this except me, most of my friends can't even hear the difference.
I don't know how to write this phonetically but the difference is, as well as I can describe it, like the difference between 'air' and 'aya' only less distinct than 'aya' would be.
EDIT: While recording I may have modified it by thinking about it too hard, but I think this is close to how I would say the two in conversation (as I don't distinguish between 'their' and 'there').
EDIT: I posted this question because I couldn't find anything on it using Google, is there a name for this or is it a relatively unknown phenomenon (the pronunciation of these words not as homophones)?
Is it grammaticaly incorrect? Can i use it whenever i want to mencion a person whose gender is unidentified?
I taught English language in Japan. English was my favorite course study and is indeed one of the most difficult languages to learn. They'd would be pronounced sounding like "theid". Depending on the sentence structure it could mean "they did" or "they would". Not sure I'm answering your question or merely contemplating it.
There is no other pronunciation for "they'd" than /ðeɪd/, whether in BrE or AmE. This is the pronunciation used by the speaker, but the second part of the diphthong is only faintly heard.
(Cambridge Dictionary) they’d How to pronounce "they’d"
UK/ðeɪd/ US/ðeɪd/
This is also the only pronunciation in Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (J C Wells).
In normal speech the sound is weaker; this can be heard in the spoken sentences of a pronunciation model on You Tube; the sound of the second vowel in /eɪ/ becomes much attenuated when found in a full sentence; it is barely audible.
How to pronounce "they'd" in English