21 - shin

ש

ש can be pronounced either /sh/ or /s/. In vocalized texts, a dot over the ש indicates its pronunciation: שׁ (with a dot on the top right) is /sh/ whereas שׂ (a dot on the left) is /s/.

שׁיעור    (lesson)
שׂרה    (Sara)

Without nikud, the distinction between שׁין /shin/ and שׂין /sin/ is based on prior knowledge of the word. Therefore, some texts, though generally not vocalized, still mark the שׂ (the less common of the two) with a dot, to distinguish it from the שׁ.

שׁ and שׂ are two different letters. Two words may look identical, but if one is spelled with a שׁ and the other one with a שׂ, then they are pronounced differently and have different meanings.
For example:

שׁר    (sing)
שׂר    (minister)

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א  ב  ג  ד  ה  ו  ז  ח  ט  י  כ  ך  ל  מ  ם  נ  ן  ס  ע  פ  ף  צ  ץ  ק  ר  ש  ת