She sees cheese.
Just three short words, and it is harder than it looks. She, sees and cheese all use the same long ee sound, but each one starts with a different consonant.
👅 Sounds to Practise
- SH /ʃ/, as in she. Round your lips a little and push out a smooth stream of air.
- S /s/, as in sees. Spread your lips and make a sharp hiss, with the tongue behind your top teeth.
- CH /tʃ/, as in cheese. A tiny stop with your tongue against the roof of your mouth, then a sh sound.
Sees and cheese also end with a Z sound /z/, even though the last letter in cheese is e. Your throat should buzz at the end.
Quick test: say she, see, chee. The vowel stays the same. Only the tongue changes.
🐢 Start Slow
Say each word slowly. Feel the start of each one.
She.
Sees.
Cheese.
🚶 Normal Speed
Say it at a natural pace, with the stressed syllables in capitals:
SHE SEES CHEESE.
🚀 Tongue-Twister Mode
Say it three times in a row, as fast as you can:
She sees cheese. She sees cheese. She sees cheese.
If it turns into see shees cheese or she shees sheese, slow down. Check the first sound of each word.
🤯 Why Is This So Difficult?
Three sounds that are almost neighbours in your mouth:
she
sees
cheese
- SH and S are made in nearly the same place. The only difference is lip shape and a slightly different tongue position.
- CH is SH with a tiny stop at the start.
- The vowel never changes, so your ear has nothing else to hold on to. Only the first sound tells the words apart.
Say it fast and the sounds slide into each other.
👀 Words to Notice
These words change meaning when only the first sound changes:
- she / see
- sheep / cheap
- sheet / seat / cheat
- ship / chip
- share / chair
Say each set slowly, then quickly: seat, sheet, cheat, seat.
🏆 OddLingo Challenge
- Round 1: say it slowly, one word at a time, with no mistakes.
- Round 2: say the whole twister once at normal speed.
- Round 3: say it three times fast without stopping.
Bonus round: if you survived all three, try this one:
Sheila sees six cheesy sheets of sticky cheese.
Three times, fast, and don't lose a single sound.
🧐 Did You Know?
Sees and cheese end with the same Z sound, but spell it differently: sees uses an s, and cheese uses an se. English has many ways to spell one sound. See the full story in though, through, tough and thought.
🔗 Related Practice
- Choosy Chimps: practise CH against SH in a longer twister.
- Six Shy Sheep: practise S against SH.
- The Sheep and the Ship: more word pairs that sound alike.