cheshire
PronouncedCHEH-sher
A cat that always has a big smile, from a famous story called Alice in Wonderland.
Syllables
2 syllables
Letters
Related words (same phonics pattern)
Phonics breakdown
Phonics Rule: CH Digraph
Sound“ch”·/tʃ/
C and H together make a new sound: “ch”, like in 'chop' and 'much'.
When C and H are together, they don't say /k/ + /h/. They make a completely new sound: “ch”. This is called a digraph — two letters making one sound.
Tip
CH — choo choo goes the train!
Examples
When the letter E appears in a closed syllable, it usually makes the short E sound “eh”. This is often confused with short I by new readers.
Tip
E says “eh” like an egg on your head.
Examples
Phonics Rule: SH Digraph
Sound“sh”·/ʃ/
S and H together make the quiet sound “sh”, like in 'ship' and 'fish'.
The digraph 'sh' makes the “sh” sound. Think of the 'shh, be quiet' sound. It can appear at the beginning, middle, or end of a word.
Tip
SH says 'shhh' — be quiet on the ship!
Examples
Phonics Rule: R-Controlled IR
Sound“er”·/ɜːr/
When R comes after I, it makes the “er” sound, like in 'bird' and 'first'.
IR makes the same “er” sound as ER and UR. There's no difference in pronunciation — only in spelling.
Tip
The bird in a shirt says “er”!
Examples
Phonics Rule: Schwa
Sound“uh”·/ə/
In unstressed syllables, vowels often make a lazy 'uh' sound called schwa, like the A in 'about'.
Schwa “uh” is the most common vowel sound in English. Any vowel letter can make the schwa sound when it's in an unstressed syllable. It sounds like a quick, lazy 'uh'.
Tip
Schwa is lazy — any vowel can say 'uh' when it's not stressed!
Examples
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