SH and CH minimal pairs
Sh and Ch sounds pronunciation guide
To pronounce the SH sound, the sides of your tongue should be just back from your teeth. The tip of your tongue should be forward, nearly touching the roof of your mouth and flat. You shouldn’t use your voice or throat, let air pass over the tip of your tongue.
SH and CH minimal pairs list (initial sound)
| shard - charred | share - chair | shatter - chatter | she’s - cheese |
|---|---|---|---|
| sheaf - chief | shear - cheer | sheep - cheap | sheet - cheat |
| sheik - cheek | sherry - cherry | shill - chill | shilling - chilling |
| shin - chin | ship - chip | shipboard - chipboard | shipper - chipper |
| shives - chives | shock - chock | shoes - choose | shop - chop |
| shore - chore | shows - chose | shuck - chuck |
SH and CH minimal pairs list (final sound)
| bash - batch | bush - butch | cash - catch | crush - crutch |
|---|---|---|---|
| dish - ditch | hash - hatch | hush - hutch | lash - latch |
| leash - leech | marsh - march | swish - switch | wash - watch |
| wish - which |
Practice sentences
Test your student’s pronunciation ability with these practice sentences that use SH and CH minimal pairs.
When he was walking in a marsh in March he found a dish in a ditch.
If you choose the right shoes you can catch the cash.
She eats cheese when she drinks cherry sherry.
Chatter shatters the silence.
He chose shows about ships and ships.
Which cheat sheet do you wish to use?
Related activities
There are a heap more other minimal pairs and activities here in the pronunciation section of ESL Vault. If you want to find something specific, don’t be afraid to use the search bar at the top of the page!
