How to pronounce the SH sound /ʃ/
/ʃ/ is a voiceless consonant made at just behind the ridge (postalveolar). Start from an S, then slide the whole tongue back about a centimetre. Widen the channel: SH uses a broad blade, not the narrow groove S uses.
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How to make it
- 1Start from an S, then slide the whole tongue back about a centimetre.
- 2Widen the channel: SH uses a broad blade, not the narrow groove S uses.
- 3Push your lips forward and round them slightly.
- 4Blow a long, soft hush with the voice off.
- Lips
- Pushed forward and slightly rounded.
- Tongue
- Body raised and pulled back a little from the S position, blade broad.
- Jaw
- Nearly closed.
Feel it
Put a hand flat on your throat and say the sound. You should feel nothing at all until the vowel begins — any buzz means you have switched the voice on too early and made the voiced partner instead.Where the sound appears
Keeping it through a whole line
She pushed the fresh fish onto the shining dish.
The national machine shop should finish in a rush.
Minimal pairs to drill
Each of these is two words separated by exactly one sound. If a listener hears the wrong one, the problem is the contrast, not the effort.
If your first language is…
Nothing here is about ability. Every one of these is a sound system doing exactly what it was built to do, applied to a language that asks for something else.
- HindiUrdu
Hindi and Urdu have sh, so the sound is secure; the difficulty is spelling, since English writes it as ti, ci, ss and s as well as sh.
- Tamil
Tamil borrows sh only in loanwords, so it is often replaced by /s/ and 'ship' becomes 'sip'.
- Telugu
Telugu uses sh in loanwords, but the native /s/ often takes over, blurring 'she' and 'see'.
- Mandarin
Mandarin has two sh-like sounds — one retroflex, one palatal — and the retroflex one makes English SH sound darker and further back.
- Japanese
Japanese has sh, but only before certain vowels, so 'shoe' is easy while 'she' and 'shall' need work; s before i also turns into sh automatically.
- Korean
Korean produces sh only before i and related vowels, so the sound appears where English wants S and is missing where English wants SH.
- Vietnamese
Northern Vietnamese merges its sh with /s/, so the English contrast is often not heard at first.
- Thai
Thai has no sh; /tɕʰ/ or /s/ replaces it, so 'ship' can start like 'chip'.
- Spanish
Most Spanish varieties have no sh, so /tʃ/ or /s/ substitutes and 'she' can come out as 'chee' or 'see'.
- Portuguese
European Portuguese uses sh for final s, so the sound is available, but it then spreads to English words that want a plain S.
- Italian
Italian has sh only before i and e, so 'shop' and 'shut' need the sound in new positions.
- Russian
Russian has both a hard and a soft sh, and the hard one is further back than English SH, giving it a heavier colour.
Straight answers
Is /ʃ/ voiced or voiceless?
It is voiceless. Put a hand on your throat: you should feel nothing until the vowel after it starts. That is the only difference between it and its partner sound, which is made in exactly the same place.
What words start with the SH sound?
Common ones include ship, she, sugar. In the middle of a word you get nation, machine, ocean, and at the end wish, fish, push. Every one of those links to its own pronunciation page here.
How is /ʃ/ spelled in English?
It is written "sh", "ti", "ci", "ssi", "ch", "s", "sci". English spelling and English sound came apart centuries ago, so the same sound turns up under several spellings and the same spelling carries several sounds — which is why the sound, not the letter, is the thing to learn.
Why do Hindi & Urdu speakers find /ʃ/ hard?
Hindi and Urdu have sh, so the sound is secure; the difficulty is spelling, since English writes it as ti, ci, ss and s as well as sh.
Record the SH sound and see if it landed
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