Ch Words and Tch Words: Digraph ch Lists + Free PDF

Ch words are words with the digraph ch, two letters that make one sound, as in chip, cheese and lunch. After a short vowel, the same sound is often spelled tch, so tch words like catch, match and itch belong here too. Ch is a digraph, not a blend. You hear one new sound, not a c and an h. You’ll find both spellings here, for kindergarten and 1st grade.

chip, chin, chick, chest, cheese, chair, chain, lunch, bench, peach, beach, much, catch, match, kitchen, witch

Our free ch and tch words flash cards have 30 picture cards (20 ch, 10 tch), the ch or tch rule with a short fill-in, and the full lists on page 3. It’s a free download with no signup.

Start with our digraph words list for all the digraphs side by side. Our lists put CVC + ch words first, because our order teaches digraphs before blends. Words with blends are marked. This series follows UFLI (sh, th, ch). Some programs teach ch before th, and either works.

The ch sound

Ch is one quick burst. You can’t hold it. Say “choo-choo” like a train, or make a small sneeze: “ch!” Put a hand in front of your mouth. You’ll feel one short puff.

That’s the easiest way to tell it from sh. Sh is a long, quiet hush you can hold as long as you like: shhhh. Ch stops right away. You’ll find the full sh or ch contrast, with a sorting activity, on our sh words page.

Ch words list: beginning, middle and end

At the beginning (initial)

• Read it now (CVC + ch): chip, chin, chop, chat, chick, check, chess, chug
• With blends: chest, chimp, champ, chomp
• Other vowel sounds: cheese, chair, chain, cheek, cherry, chicken, cheetah, chew

Ch at the start of a word is always spelled ch, never tch.

In the middle (medial)

lunchbox, teacher, children, armchair, sandwiches, kitchen, ketchup

Kitchen and ketchup have the tch spelling in the middle. We cover that below.

At the end (final)

• After a consonant: lunch, bunch, munch, bench, pinch, inch, ranch
• After a vowel team: peach, beach, teach, reach, coach, couch
• Short-vowel rule breakers: much, such, rich, which

Teach the rule breakers early. Much and such show up in almost every early reader.

Tch words and the ch or tch rule

Here’s the ch or tch rule in three lines:

• Right after one short vowel letter, at the end of a syllable, the /ch/ sound is spelled tch: catch, fetch, itch, notch, hutch.
• After a consonant or a vowel team, it’s ch: lunch, bench, peach, coach.
• Rule breakers: much, such, rich, which, and a few longer words like sandwich and ostrich.

Why the extra t? It does the same job as the ck in duck and the double letters in bell and puff. It protects the short vowel. This will feel familiar if your child already knows the floss rule. Its twin is dge, which does the same job for the /j/ sound (badge, bridge). That one lives with our soft c and soft g words.

tch is a trigraph: three letters, one sound. The t is silent. Most programs teach it well after ch. In UFLI Foundations, ch is lesson 48 and tch is lesson 69.

Watch the vowel, not the sound. Touch sounds short, but its vowel is spelled with two letters (ou), so it takes ch. Watch has one vowel letter, so it takes tch, even though the a in it sounds like the o in hot.

Tch words list, by vowel

• -atch: catch, match, patch, latch, hatch, plus watch (the w changes the a)
• -etch: fetch, sketch, stretch
• -itch: itch, pitch, ditch, witch, switch, stitch
• -otch: notch, hopscotch
• -utch: hutch, clutch, crutch
• Longer words: kitchen, ketchup, stopwatch, hatchet, pitcher

Tch never starts a word, and it never comes after a consonant. If your child writes “lutch” for lunch, ask: is there a consonant right before the /ch/? Then it’s ch.

When ch says k or sh (school, chef)

Most of the time ch says /ch/. A small group of words borrowed from other languages use it differently.

• Ch says /k/: school, Christmas, echo, chorus, stomach, ache. Many of these came from Greek.
• Ch says /sh/: chef, machine, Chicago, mustache. Many of these came from French.

Don’t teach these while your child is learning ch. When one turns up in a book, say “this ch is different” and give them the word. It’s a later lesson. In UFLI Foundations it’s lesson 118, one of the last. A child who reads school as “chool” is using what they know. That’s a good sign.

Easy ch words for kindergarten

Start with the CVC + ch words. Each has one short vowel and the ch.

chip, chin, chop, chat, chick, check, chess, chug, much, such, rich

Short i gives chip, chin, chick and rich (our short i words list). Short u gives much, such and chug (short u words). Short e gives check and chess (short e words). Chick and check also use ck, which UFLI teaches just before sh, th and ch.

Ch words with pictures

You’ll find 20 ch cards on page 1 of the PDF, in four rows: the read-it-now row, then ch at the start, ch at the end, and longer words. Use them for a word wall, a matching game or a “find the ch” hunt.

The long e words on the cards (cheese, peach, beach) are also on our long e words list. Rows 2 to 4 are picture words. Your child hears the ch now and reads them later.

Sentences to read aloud

These use CVC + ch words plus a few common words. The is a heart word. The e doesn’t say /e/, so your child learns it by heart.

Ch (once ch is taught):

1. Chip had a chat.
2. The chick is in the hut.
3. Chad can chop.

Tch (after tch is taught):

4. Fetch the red chip.
5. I can match the patch.
6. Mitch can catch it.

Reading ch vs saying ch

Reading ch and saying ch are different skills. If your child reads chip correctly but says it out loud as “ship” or “tip”, that’s a speech sound, not a reading problem. A speech-language pathologist can check it. You can use the lists and sentences on this page for practice either way.

How to practice ch and tch

Pick one or two of these a day, and keep it short.

1. One finger, one sound. Put one finger under the c and h together and say “ch”. For tch, one finger under all three letters. This stops the “c-h” or “t-c-h” sounding out.
2. Hold it or not? Say a word: shop, chop, ship, chip. Your child holds up a hand for a long sound (sh) and claps for a quick one (ch). Listening only, no letters.
3. Ch or tch? Say a word ending in /ch/. Ask: is there one short vowel letter right before it? Then write tch (catch, itch). Page 2 of our PDF has a 10-word fill-in with an answer key.
4. Read and write. Our one-page ch worksheets have a decodable phrase to read, trace and write: chips in a dish and chat with the chick. For tch, try catch a fish.
5. Start or end? Say chop, match, lunch, chin. Your child points up if the /ch/ comes at the start and down if it comes at the end. Later, our digraph sentence builder turns these words into silly sentences.

You’ll find more ch worksheets with all the digraph printables and the tch and dge sheets. The cards are created to align with lessons 48 and 69 of UFLI Foundations. See our worksheets in UFLI order.

Our reading games play ch as one clean sound, so chip and ship never blur.

Questions parents ask

What is the -tch rule in phonics? At the end of a short-vowel syllable, right after one vowel letter, the /ch/ sound is spelled tch: catch, fetch, itch, notch, hutch. The t is silent. It keeps the vowel short, the same job ck does in duck.

What is the ch and tch rule? Use tch right after one short vowel letter. Use ch everywhere else: at the start of a word (chip), after a consonant (lunch, bench) and after a vowel team (peach, coach). The common rule breakers are much, such, rich and which. Teach those four by heart.

Is tch a digraph or a trigraph? It’s a trigraph: three letters that make one sound. Some programs call it the digraph ch with a silent t in front. Either way, your child reads the three letters as one sound.

Why does ch sound like k in school? School came into English from Greek, where that sound was a k. Other examples are Christmas, echo and stomach. These are best learned one word at a time, after ch is solid.

What words have ch that sounds like sh? Chef, machine, Chicago and mustache. Most of them came from French. They’re not common in early books, so there’s no need to teach them early.

When do kids learn ch and tch? Ch usually comes in kindergarten or early 1st grade, after short vowels and CVC words are steady. Tch usually comes later in 1st grade. In UFLI Foundations, ch is lesson 48 and tch is lesson 69.

The takeaways

• Ch is one quick sound, as in chip, cheese and lunch. You can’t hold it, which is how you tell it from sh.
• Start with CVC + ch words: chip, chin, chop, chat, chick, much.
• Tch comes right after one short vowel letter: catch, match, itch, kitchen. After a consonant or a vowel team, it’s ch.
• Learn the rule breakers: much, such, rich, which.
• Save ch as k or sh for later: school, Christmas, chef, machine.
• Print the free ch and tch flash cards: 30 picture cards, the ch or tch rule with a fill-in and answer key, and the full word lists on page 3.

Lesson numbers are cited for alignment only. This post and its PDF are our own original work, not created by nor endorsed by UFLI or the University of Florida.