It helps if you understand the origins of the words. Chair has been in the English language for a long time. Chef is a more recent borrowing from French, and hence is still pronounced the French way.

Answer from mikeagg on Stack Exchange
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Forvo
forvo.com › word › chef
How to pronounce chef in English - Definition and synonyms of chef in English
chef pronunciation in French [fr] Phonetic spelling: ʃɛf · chef pronunciation · Pronunciation by richie (Male from France) Male from France · Pronunciation by richie · User information · Follow · 6 votes Good Bad · Add to favorites · Download MP3 ·
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HowToPronounce.com
howtopronounce.com › french › chef
Chef pronunciation in French
April 4, 2024 - How to say chef in French? Pronunciation of chef with 3 audio pronunciations, 20 synonyms, 1 meaning, 10 translations, 22 sentences and more for chef.
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YouTube
youtube.com › watch
How to Pronounce Chef French VS English, Pronunciation Guide - YouTube
This video shows you how How to Pronounce Chef French VS English, Pronunciation Guide, pronunciation guide.Hear more useful French words pronounced: https://...
Published   November 23, 2021
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EasyPronunciation
easypronunciation.com › en › french › word › chef
Chef — Pronunciation: HD Slow Audio + Phonetic Transcription
Practice pronunciation of chef and other French words with our Pronunciation Trainer. Try it for free!
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Wiktionary
en.wiktionary.org › wiki › chef
chef - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Chef, halte hoor. Driver, I'd like to get off the bus here. ... Inherited from Middle French chief, from Old French chief, from Vulgar Latin capus, from Latin caput (“head”), from Proto-Italic *kaput, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kauput-, *kaput-. Doublet of cap.
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Quora
quora.com › Why-is-chef-pronounced-shef
Why is chef pronounced shef? - Quora
*chief is from old French (13c) and at that time /tʃ/ was assigned to ch. *chef is a more recent loan (1800). Modern French assigns /ʃ/ to ch. If the words were anglicized, they would be ...
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Collins Dictionary
collinsdictionary.com › dictionary › english-french › chef
French Translation of “CHEF” | Collins English-French Dictionary
French · German · Italian · Spanish · Portuguese · Hindi · Chinese · Korean · Japanese · Translations Summary Synonyms Sentences Pronunciation Collocations Conjugations Grammar · Credits × · A2 · COBUILD frequency band · Share × · Credits × · noun · le chef masc ·
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OUINO
ouinolanguages.com › blog › chef-in-french
How to Say “Chef” in French? What is the meaning of “Chef cuisinier”? - OUINO
Le chef jonglait avec des couteaux. The chef juggled with knives. Restaurant Words & Phrases in French.
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WordHippo
wordhippo.com › what-is › the › french-word-for-chef.html
How to say chef in French
French words for chef include cuisinier, chef de cuisine, chef cuisinier and cheuf. Find more French words at wordhippo.com!
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Bab.la
en.bab.la › pronunciation › french › chef
What is the pronunciation of 'chef' in French?
Learn how to say 'chef' in French with audio and example in sentences
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Quora
quora.com › Why-is-the-word-chef-pronounced-with-a-ch-sound-but-the-words-cheese-and-chemistry-are-not
Why is the word 'chef' pronounced with a 'ch' sound, but the words 'cheese' and 'chemistry' are not? - Quora
Answer (1 of 5): The simple answer is that there is more than one way to pronounce ch. The slightly more thorough answer is that chef comes from French, whereas the others do not. Cheese, or so I’ve read, comes from Old English. You’ll come across this kind of thing alllllllllll the time in Engl...
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Pronounce
pronounce.tv › home
How to Navigate Pronunciation Challenges with Chef
April 8, 2024 - The correct pronunciation of the word “chef” is “shef.” It is pronounced with a soft “sh” sound at the beginning followed by a short “e” sound and ending with an “f” sound.
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Cambridge Dictionary
dictionary.cambridge.org › pronunciation › english › chef
CHEF | Pronunciation in English
CHEF pronunciation. How to say CHEF. Listen to the audio pronunciation in English. Learn more.
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Cambridge Dictionary
dictionary.cambridge.org › dictionary › english-french › chef
CHEF | translate English to French - Cambridge Dictionary
chef, capocuoco… · See more · Need a translator? Get a quick, free translation! Translator tool · What is the pronunciation of chef? See the definition of chef in the English dictionary · cheesecake · cheesed off · cheesy · cheetah · chef · chemical ·
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Language Drops
languagedrops.com › word › en › english › french › translate › chef
What is "Chef" in French and how to say it?
Learn the word for "Chef" and other related vocabulary in French so that you can talk about Fine Dining with confidence.
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Oxford Learner's Dictionaries
oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com › us › definition › english › chef
chef noun - Definition, pictures, pronunciation and usage notes | Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary at OxfordLearnersDictionaries.com
She used to work as a chef in a big hotel in Johannesburg. see also pastry chef, sous-chefTopics Cooking and eatinga2, Jobsa2 ... Word Originearly 19th cent.: French, literally ‘head’.