Introduction to Affricates > How to pronounce ‘ch’ /ʧ/ > Common ‘ch’ /ʧ/ spellings > Practice pronouncing ‘ch’ /ʧ/
Common 'ch sound' /ʧ/ spellings
1. ch
a. chip /ʧɪp/
b. teacher /'tiʧ ɚ/
c. rich /rɪʧ/
The 'ch' spelling can also be used to spell the 'sh sound' /ʃ/ (as in 'chef') or the /k/ (as in 'chorus').
2. tch
a. kitchen /ikɪʧ n̩/
b. itch /ɪʧ/
c. watch /wɑʧ/
3. t(+u)
a. virtue /'vɚ ʧu/
b. century /'sɛn ʧɚ i/
c. spatula /'spæ ʧə lə/
While the t+u spelling is preceded by the letter 's' or begins a stressed or secondarily stressed syllable, the /t/ is the more common pronunciation (as in the words 'study' and 'solitude').
More 'ch' material