th words
TH words
The TH digraph spells two related consonant sounds — voiceless TH as in thin and math, voiced TH as in this and them. The same two letters spell both. Below are decodable TH words for grades K-3, filterable by syllable count, grade, and position (initial, medial, or final).
Most common TH words
These are the highest-frequency words for this pattern — a good starting set for early readers. The full filterable list is below.
Word list
All TH words
Filter by syllable count, reading grade, or where the sound appears in the word, or search.
- theThe dog ran to the park.KBeginning
- thatI want that blue cup.1Beginning
- withCome with me to the store.1End
- thisThis is my favorite book.1Beginning
- theyThey are playing outside.1Beginning
- theirThe kids found their shoes.3Beginning
- therePut the box over there.1Beginning
- themGive the toys to them.2Beginning
- otherI want the other crayon.1Middle
- thanA bus is bigger than a car.KBeginning
- thinkI think it will rain.2Beginning
- thenWe ate, then we played.2Beginning
- theseThese apples are red and sweet.3Beginning
- thoseThose birds are singing.3Beginning
- throughWe walked through the door.KBeginning
- somethingI want something to eat.1Middle
- bothBoth girls like to draw.3End
- threeI have three pets.KBeginning
- anotherCan I have another cookie?3Middlemulti-syllable
- thingsPut your things in the bag.KBeginning
- thingWhat is that small thing?KBeginning
- withoutDo not leave without your coat.1Middle
- thoughtI thought about the puzzle.KBeginning
- anythingDo you need anything from the store?3Middlemulti-syllable
- nothingThere is nothing in the box.1Middle
- everythingWe packed everything for the trip.3Middlemulti-syllable
- thoughIt is cold, though the sun is out.KBeginning
- thankI thank you for the gift.2Beginning
- togetherWe work better together.3Middlemulti-syllable
- healthSleep is good for your health.KEnd
- withinStay within the lines.1Middle
- thanksShe said thanks for helping.KBeginning
- othersSome kids ran; others walked.1Middle
- southBirds fly south in the fall.KEnd
- monthsThere are twelve months in a year.KMiddle
- northThe cold wind comes from the north.KEnd
- eitherYou can pick either one.1Middle
- ratherI would rather read than nap.1Middle
- thirdShe came in third place.KBeginning
- whetherI wonder whether it will snow.1Middle
- furtherThe store is further down the road.1Middle
- althoughWe played, although it was cold.1Middle
- fatherMy father reads to me.1Middle
- monthMy birthday is next month.KEnd
- motherMy mother makes great soup.1Middle
- thinkingI am thinking of a number.1Beginning
- worthThe old coin is worth a lot.KEnd
- brotherMy brother shares his toys.1Middle
- earthThe earth spins around the sun.KEnd
- truthAlways tell the truth.KEnd
- growthWe measured the plant's growth.KEnd
- authorThe author wrote a funny book.1Middle
- thusIt rained; thus we stayed inside.1Beginning
- theoryI have a theory about the trick.1Beginning
- thereforeIt snowed, therefore school was closed.1Beginning
- weatherThe weather is warm today.1Middle
- northernWe visited the northern hills.1Middle
- southernThe southern beach is sunny.1Middle
- fourthToday is the fourth day of camp.1End
- mouthCover your mouth when you cough.1End
- throwThrow the ball to me.1Beginning
- faithShe has faith in her friends.1End
- healthyAn apple is a healthy snack.1Middle
- methodWe learned a new method to add.1Middle
- strengthIt takes strength to lift that.1End
- fifthShe is in fifth grade.1End
- thinksHe thinks the answer is six.1Beginning
- birthWe saw the birth of a calf.1End
- lengthMeasure the length of the desk.1End
- neitherNeither shoe fits me.1Middle
- thousandsThere are thousands of stars.1Beginning
- birthdayHappy birthday to you!1Middle
- thoughtsShare your thoughts with the class.1Beginning
- youthThe youth team won the game.1End
- clothesPut your clothes in the drawer.1Middle
- pathWe walked along the path.1End
- brothersMy two brothers play ball.1Middle
- methodsWe tried two methods to solve it.1Middle
- thousandA thousand ants marched by.1Beginning
- teethBrush your teeth before bed.1End
- depthWe measured the depth of the pool.1End
- breathTake a deep breath.1End
- wealthThe king had great wealth.1End
- mathI like to do math.1End
- bathI take a bath at night.1End
- forthWe walked back and forth.1End
- smoothThe stone is smooth and round.1End
- sixthHe is in sixth grade.1End
- seventhShe finished in seventh place.2End
- beneathThe cat hid beneath the bed.2End
No words match those filters. Try widening the grade or syllable range.
Printable
Make a worksheet
The worksheet uses whatever filters are active above — filter to a grade or syllable count first, then print. Each word gets a dotted tracing line.
By position
TH word groups
Beginning
Middle
End
For teachers & parents
Teaching TH words
TH is the third consonant digraph introduced in most structured-literacy sequences, after SH and CH — usually early to mid grade 1. Voiced and voiceless TH are taught as one pattern (same spelling) with the distinction noted: voiceless in thin, math, three; voiced in this, them, the.
Common confusion: TH for English-language learners — many languages do not have either TH sound, so substitution with /t/ or /d/ (tin for thin) is common and benign. Suggested activities: (1) 'finger on throat' voiced/voiceless feel; (2) sort the voiced TH words (this, that, the, them, then) from voiceless (thin, math, with); (3) read aloud a short passage using the high-frequency voiced-TH words (every K-1 leveled reader uses these heavily).
How this TH word list was built
Every word here contains the TH sound
(TH/DH in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary,
spelled th). Candidates are matched by phoneme,
frequency-filtered so the list stays to words children actually meet, and
tagged with a reading grade from the Dolch and Fry lists.
Decodability rule: phoneme_match AND zipf>=3.0 AND syllables<=2 AND !archaic
Each of the 90 words has an editor-written example sentence (10 words or fewer, written for grades K-3) so the word can be read in context.
- CMU Pronouncing Dictionary (CMUdict 0.7b)Public-domain phoneme transcriptions used to match each word to its sound pattern.
- wordfreq (word-frequency data)Zipf-frequency filter (>= 3.0) keeps the list to common, decodable words.
- Dolch sight words (1948) + Fry list (1980)Public-domain grade bands used to tag each word K-3.
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