How to Pronounce S [s] vs. SH [ʃ] - American English

In this American English pronunciation video, we’re going to compare the consonants S

and SH.

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More information at the end of the video.

I got a request recently to compare these two consonants. I’m happy to do it.

The S sound can actually be made two different ways: one with the tongue tip pointing up,

and one with it pointing down. I make the S with the tongue tip pointing down. Sss.

Notice how the corners of my lips are either relaxed, ss, or pull out, ss. This is different

from SH, shhh, where the corners come in and the lips flare. Let’s compare some photos

to look at the tongue position.

You can see that not only is the lip position different, but the tongue position too. For

the S sound, the tongue tip touches the back of the bottom front teeth. The front/middle

part lifts a little bit.

For the SH sound, the tongue tip lifts to the middle of the mouth. Though it stays forward,

it’s not touching anything. The front/middle part of the tongue arches up so it’s very

close to the roof of the mouth.

I’m going to turn off the sound now. Just look at my mouth. Which sound am I making?

The S sound. My lips did not flare. Let’s look at some minimal pairs. Repeat

with me. See, she.

suit, shoot. sock, shock.

sign, shine.

Now I’m going to say just one word in a minimal pair. Which is it? Is it the word

with S or SH?

Has this video helped? Sh, ss.

I hope it has.

If there’s a concept you need help with, please put it in the comments below.

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That’s it, and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English.

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