clothes (pronunciation)

bernik

Senior Member
Brittany - french
In my Robert & Collins dictionary, the pronunciation appears something like this: kləυðz

In another dictionary, I found : klow(dh)z

I'd like to know if most people really pronounce first the th,
and then the z sound (not very easy for a non-native speaker).
Or is it good policy to skip the th ?
 
  • When said at a quick, conversational pace, it sounds closer to "close"; the "th" is very lightly pronounced. But when said slower, the "th" sound is distinct and followed by the "z" sound.
     
    ... mais même si c'est très peu, le th est toujours présent (hélas!) Eh oui, les Anglophones savent faire ça sans y penser, eux...
     
    I remember that whenever my ex-husband, who is from Dublin, pronounced that word, the th sound could be very distinctly heard as a dh, so I suppose it depends on local accents.
     
    In American English, pronouncing 'clothes' simply as 'close' is entirely acceptable. I pronounce it this way all the time (but then I also say 'prolly' for 'probably' in fast casual conversation). Both my Websters and Miriam-Websters dictionaries list this pronunciation first.
     
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