The "sh" sound — /ʃ/
As in ship. Tap play to hear the sound, see the mouth shape, and hear 15 example words.
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Grapheme — the letters
sh
What a child sees written down and writes by hand.
Phoneme — the sound
/ʃ/
What a child hears and says out loud — written in IPA, the standard notation for sounds (not letter names).
Mouth shape
Lips pushed forward, blow
Gesture
Put finger to lips and say shhhh
Words to read now
Every letter in these has been taught by this point in the teaching order, so your child can sound them out.
- ship
- shopaccent differs
- shut
- shed
- shell
- fish
- dish
- wish
- cash
- dash
- rush
- brush
- crash
- fresh
Words to listen for the sound
You say these, your child listens for /ʃ/. They use letters or spellings not taught yet, so they’re not for reading.
- wash
Teach the “sh” sound: free printables
Two free PDFs made for this sound. Print them, or use the full lesson online with audio and games.
“sh” practice sheetFor your child: trace, find the sound in pictures, read and match. Name & date on top. Download PDF
“sh” lesson planFor you: a 10-minute lesson with what to say, the answer key and common mix-ups. Download PDFCompare: /ʃ/ vs /ʒ/
Same pushed-out lips — the zh in "treasure" just adds a buzz from your voice box.
Learn the “zh” sound →How to teach the “sh” sound
- Hear it first. Tap Play three times. Have your child watch your mouth while you copy the sound — no letter name yet, just the pure phoneme /ʃ/.
- Do the gesture. Put finger to lips and say shhhh— kids remember sounds 2× faster when there’s a physical action attached.
- Find it in words. Say a few example words aloud slowly, stretching the /ʃ/ sound: “s–h–i–p”.
- Spot it around the house. “Can you find something that starts with /ʃ/?” Aim for 3 wins in a row before stopping.
Related sounds in this unit
Turn this into a dated schedule
Pick a start date and a pace, and get all 44 sounds laid out as dated sessions — free to preview, downloadable as a calendar.
Teach phonics online — one short lesson a day
Sign in free and follow a plan that remembers where you are. Right here in your browser, on phone, tablet or computer — nothing to download.
- 92 step-by-step lessons, SATPIN first
- Big flashcards to show your child
- Games, checkpoints and progress for every sound
For little ones (2–6) there’s also our sound-play game on iPhone & iPad and Android.