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How to pronounce sixth

Sixth is pronounced SIKSTH. It is one syllable that ends in three consonant sounds in a row: k, s and th. Say six, then push your tongue between your teeth for th. American and British English say it the same way.

Say it yourself
  • 1 syllable
  • Stress on SIKSTH
  • US and UK IPA
  • Checked in Cambridge and Oxford

sixth

One syllable

ordinal number · number six in a series; also, one of six equal parts

  1. SIKSTHsɪksθ (stressed)
  • US /sɪksθ/SIKSTH Recorded voice
  • UK /sɪksθ/SIKSTH Your device’s voice

IPA checked in the Cambridge Dictionary and Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries. The recording is American English.

Sixth, sound by sound

Each sound in the IPA, with a word you already know that has it.

USUK American and British English/sɪksθ/

  1. SIKSTHstressed

    • /s/as in see
    • /ɪ/as in sit
    • /k/as in cat
    • /s/as in see
    • /θ/as in thin

Say sixth yourself

Press the microphone and say it once. Your browser writes down what it hears: if it writes sixth, you were understood. If it writes another word, you see which sound changed.

Tip. End with three sounds: k, s, th. For th, put your tongue between your teeth and blow gently.

Record yourself and play it next to our recording: the quickest way to hear a difference.

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sixth

    Common sixth pronunciation mistakes

    What people often say instead, and how to fix it. Say SIKSTH.

    • NotSIKS

      Dropping the th, so it sounds like six. Finish with th, tongue between your teeth.

    • NotSIKST

      Saying t instead of th. Do not touch the ridge behind your teeth; let air pass over your tongue.

    • NotSIK-sith

      Adding a vowel between s and th. Sixth is one syllable: slide straight from s to th.

    Sixth in a sentence

    Hear each one, slow it down, then say it. Words change a little when they join others, so practise them in sentences too.

    • Our flat is on the sixth floor.

    • She finished sixth out of forty runners.

    • Today is my son's sixth birthday.

    Why is sixth so hard to say?

    The x in six already stands for two sounds, k and s. Sixth adds a th, so the word ends in k, s and th with no vowel between them. Few languages allow a cluster like that, and many have no th sound at all.

    The th ending came late. Old English said sixta, and Middle English sixte, with a t. Later the ending changed to th to match fourth, seventh and the other ordinal numbers.

    Practise in steps: six, then sixth, keeping the s long and sliding into th. The plural is harder still: sixths ends in k, s, th and s.

    Words that sound like sixth

    Rhymes and words that share its tricky sound. Open any of them in the checker and say it.

    More words with hard sounds

    All 170 difficult words

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