The "zh" sound — /ʒ/
As in treasure. Tap play to hear the sound, see the mouth shape, and hear 15 example words.
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Grapheme — the letters
zh
What a child sees written down and writes by hand.
Phoneme — the sound
/ʒ/
What a child hears and says out loud — written in IPA, the standard notation for sounds (not letter names).
Mouth shape
Like 'sh', but with your voice on — lips pushed forward
Gesture
Hold a treasure chest and say zh-zh-zh
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.
None yet — at this point too few sounds are known to build a real word. Use the listening words below.
Words to listen for the sound
You say these, your child listens for /ʒ/. They use letters or spellings not taught yet, so they’re not for reading.
- treasure
- measure
- pleasure
- vision
- television
- usual
- casual
- decision
- explosion
- leisure
- garage
- beige
- massage
- collage
- camouflage
Teach the “zh” sound: free printables
Two free PDFs made for this sound. Print them, or use the full lesson online with audio and games.
“zh” practice sheetFor your child: trace, find the sound in pictures, read and match. Name & date on top. Download PDF
“zh” lesson planFor you: a 10-minute lesson with what to say, the answer key and common mix-ups. Download PDFCompare: /ʒ/ vs /ʃ/
Same pushed-out lips — the zh in "treasure" just adds a buzz from your voice box.
Learn the “sh” sound →How to teach the “zh” 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 /ʒ/.
- Do the gesture. Hold a treasure chest and say zh-zh-zh— 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 /ʒ/ sound: “t–r–e–a–s–u–r–e”.
- Spot it around the house. “Can you find something that starts with /ʒ/?” 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.
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ABC Phonics — Sounds for Kids