# Do you say "Shtreet" instead of "Street"? Is this a regional variation?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-shtreet-instead-of-street-is-this-a-regional-variation/525389>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 18, 2010, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-shtreet-instead-of-street-is-this-a-regional-variation/525389 "2010-01-18T03:29:16Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 30

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**Author:** ![xash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c6cbf5/32.png) [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)\
**Post date:** [January 21, 2010, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-shtreet-instead-of-street-is-this-a-regional-variation/525389/30 "2010-01-21T09:42:52Z")

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> [@CurtC](#):
>
> However, I thought that _everyone_ pronounces “train” and “tree” as chrain and chree. Are there people who actually say it without the ch- sound (as part of their dialect and not an affectation)?

> [@needscoffee](#):
>
> Certainly. I don’t think I know anyone who doesn’t.

Are you guys serious? I thought everyone says “train” and “tree” without any “ch” in it, just the “tr” sound. I say “train” and “tree” without any “ch”, and so do at least a billion Indians. I’m going to ask people tomorrow to pronounce “train” and “tree” for me.

If you want to learn something truly fascinating, check out this post I made sometime last month:

> [@Come Mister Tallyban tally me banana](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-mister-tallyban-tally-me-banana/519675/10):
>
> Obama pronounces Pakistan as the locals do. Taliban, locally, is pronounced taa-li-baan, with a soft T sound that no American I know seems to be able to differentiate from a hard T sound. It’s a sound that I think doesn’t exist in the English language, or at least I’m unable to find a word that uses it, to be able to explain the difference to my friends.
> 
> The closest I can come to an explanation is this:
> 
> Say tree. Now say three. See where your tongue is when you say three? It’s not the same place as tree, right? Now say T with your tongue at the the position where you start the word three. That’s a soft T sound. Am I making any sense?
> 
> Next time you meet a South Asian friend, ask them to pronounce a native language word that uses a soft T and a hard T, and see if you can make out the difference. Chances are, you can’t.

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