The sh Digraph

Learn that s and h together make one new sound: /sh/.

A digraph is two letters that make one sound. The letters s and h usually make /s/ and /h/, but when they team up, they say /sh/, like the quiet sound you make to a sleeping baby. You cannot hear /s/ or /h/ by themselves. Read 'ship': /sh/ /i/ /p/.

That is three sounds, even though it has four letters. The sh can come at the start, as in 'shop', or at the end, as in 'fish' and 'dash'. When you see s and h side by side, read them as one sound.

• 1A digraph is two letters that make one sound.
• 2s and h together say /sh/.
• 3sh can be at the start or end of a word.