The /ʃ/ sound: sh as in she

Consonant
Voiceless
High priority for IELTS

Hear it

in she

Lips: Pushed forward, rounded
Tongue: Front of the tongue just behind the ridge
Voice: Off: only air
Air: Squeezed through a narrow gap

The sound on its own: recording by Peter Isotalo, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. Credits

How to make /ʃ/

1
Pull your tongue slightly further back than for /s/.
2
Round your lips a little and push air through.
3
A soft hushing sound: she, nation, wish.

Sounds like: the sound you make to quiet someone, 'shhh'

/s/ vs /ʃ/: see vs she

Every pair

For /ʃ/ pull the tongue slightly back and round your lips a little, like shushing a child. /s/ keeps the lips spread and the tongue further forward; feel the hiss move.

1 / 8

Which word do you hear?

How /ʃ/ is spelled

sh
ti + on
ci + al
s + ure
ch

The usual mistake

Merging it with /s/ so 'she' sounds like 'see' and 'ship' like 'sip', a high-impact contrast for many East and Southeast Asian speakers.

Hardest for speakers of

Words to practise

Say it and get scored

Read she, nation, wish, social, sure aloud. Free, no account.

Check my /ʃ/

Questions

How do you pronounce the /ʃ/ sound?

Pull your tongue slightly further back than for /s/. Round your lips a little and push air through. A soft hushing sound: she, nation, wish.

What is the most common mistake with /ʃ/?

Merging it with /s/ so 'she' sounds like 'see' and 'ship' like 'sip', a high-impact contrast for many East and Southeast Asian speakers.

Which spellings make the /ʃ/ sound?

Common spellings include “sh”, “ti(on)”, “ci(al)”, “s(ure)”, “ch”, as in she /ʃiː/, nation /ˈneɪʃən/, wish /wɪʃ/.

Does /ʃ/ matter for IELTS?

Yes. This is a high-priority sound. Errors here frequently change one word into another, which examiners hear as reduced clarity (the exact Band 6 wording is “mispronunciation … reduces clarity at times”).