Back to all sounds
Consonant

CH Sound

The CH sound is a voiceless post-alveolar affricate. It starts like a T sound (/t/) with the tongue tip at the alveolar ridge, but then quickly releases into an SH sound (/ʃ/) as the tongue pulls back slightly.

ch
Phonetic System (Merriam-Webster):ch

Watch the Sound

Click the video to watch in fullscreen mode

Example Words

Main Example

chair
Phonetic: /tʃɛr/

Common Words

chair/tʃɛr/
choose/tʃuz/
church/tʃɜrtʃ/
teach/titʃ/
watch/wɑtʃ/
future/ˈfjutʃər/
question/ˈkwɛstʃən/
catch/kætʃ/
kitchen/ˈkɪtʃən/
lunch/lʌntʃ/

Minimal Pairs

Listen and compare similar sounds

ch
chair
/tʃɛr/
Compare with
C
share
/ʃɛr/
ch
choose
/tʃuz/
Compare with
C
shoes
/ʃuz/
ch
catch
/kætʃ/
Compare with
C
cash
/kæʃ/
ch
witch
/wɪtʃ/
Compare with
W
wish
/wɪʃ/

Tongue Twister

Chester cheetah chewed a chunk of cheap cheddar cheese.

Try it yourself

Practice saying this tongue twister

Technical Details

  • CategoryConsonant
  • VoicingVoiceless
  • Place of ArticulationPost-alveolar
  • Manner of ArticulationAffricate
  • Mouth PositionStart by placing the tip of your tongue on the ridge behind your upper teeth (like for T). Quickly pull the tongue back slightly and release air through the narrowing, creating the SH part of the sound. It's a quick t+sh combination. Vocal cords do not vibrate.