/tʃ/as in “chair”

Consonant

How to pronounce /tʃ/ in English

The /tʃ/ sound is a palato-alveolar, voiceless, affricate consonant.

Voiceless
Affricate
Post-alveolar

Jaw
Open your mouth slightly.
Tongue
First, place the tip of your tongue on the ridge behind your upper front teeth for the /t/ sound. Then raise the middle of your tongue close to the roof of your mouth for /ʃ/.
Lips
Round your lips slightly.

Example words

chair
watch
nature
church
teacher

Common mistakes

CH and J

The stop at the start was missing. Touch the ridge with your tongue first, then release into the hiss.
It came out as /j/ or /z/: "job" sounded like "yob". Start with a clear /d/ stop.
It came out as a plain stop with no hiss. After the stop, release into /ʃ/ with rounded lips.

How to practise

/tʃ/ is /t/ followed at once by /ʃ/, joined into one sound, lips rounded.
/dʒ/ is /d/ followed at once by /ʒ/, with your voice on.
At the end of a word ("watch", "page") let the hiss be heard.

Easily confused words

chair · share
cheap · sheep
watch · wash
jet · yet
jam · yam
joke · yolk

Practise /tʃ/ with Letty

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