Minimal pair · General American
English /ʃ/ vs /tʃ/Shoe or chew?
Compare the continuous start of /ʃ/ with the stop-and-release start of /tʃ/. Match the initial category even when the rest of X is different.
Practice these sounds/ʃ/
A broader, unvoiced hiss
A continuous consonant. Compare the quality of its friction with the other sound.
As inshop
/tʃ/
The tʃ category
Listen for the target sound in each word.
As inchop
WHAT TO LISTEN FOR
A small change.
A different word.
Compare the continuous start of /ʃ/ with the stop-and-release start of /tʃ/. Match the initial category even when the rest of X is different.
Listen for the target sound in each word.
Sound examples
Tap to hear each wordshop
/ʃɑp/a small storeshin
/ʃɪn/the front of the lower legshoe
/ʃu/an item of footwearship
/ʃɪp/a large boatsheep
/ʃip/a woolly animalchop
/tʃɑp/cut with sharp blowschin
/tʃɪn/the lower part of the facechew
/tʃu/break food with the teethchip
/tʃɪp/a small thin piececheap
/tʃip/low in price10 words. Words stay hidden during practice unless you choose to reveal them.