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 ExchangeIt 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.
It would be a fine thing to have no irregularities in languages. But languages were not created at the drawing-board. They evolved over long periods of time. And if a word is borrowed from French as chef ( head or master of the kitchen) then it normally has the French pronunciation and that is /shef/.
It seems you have not yet discovered how many irregularities your mother tongue probably has.
Videos
How is the word 'Chef' pronounced in Australian English?
How do you pronounce chef in American English?
What is meaning of the chef?
Is the "f" in the word "chefs" (the plural of "chef") pronounced, or does the plural render it silent, as is the case with "oeufs" (eggs) and "boeufs" (oxen)?