Hanyu Pinyin, the Mandarin Chinese Romanization System:

A Pronunciation Guide.
Hanyu Pinyin, commonly just called Pinyin, is the most important tool to learn correct Mandarin
Chinese pronunciation. It is even easy to learn, unlike Chinese characters; so spend about 20
minutes here and we will have you learning Mandarin Chinese in no time.

First, Mandarin Chinese is not based on the individual letter, as is English, but rather on the
syllable; each Chinese character represents one syllable. There are three components in each
Chinese syllable, understanding what these are will help us understand the pinyin system. The
three components are the initial, the final and the tone. These names are pretty self-explanatory,
the initial is the sound at the beginning of the word, the final is the ending sound, and the tone is
just that, the rising or falling tone of voice used when pronouncing that syllable.

As an example let�s look at the word "学"/"xu�", which in Mandarin Chinese means
"learn". In this syllable "x" is the initial, �ue� is the final and mark above the e, ��
shows the tone. Generally every syllable will have all three of these components, although some
syllables don�t require an initial.

Below you will find pronunciation charts for the Initials and Finals. These two charts are the
most basic pronunciation skills, and the most important for absolute beginners. If you already
know all the sounds then please look at the Tone chart. If you are fairly comfortable with
producing the tones then please go on to the final Tone Sandhi chart.

Initials Finals Tones Tone Sandhi

Initials
Initials are always consonants and most of them are fairly similar to their English equivalents.
Pinyin Approximate
IPA English Equivalent Examples
Initial Pronunciation
b, d, f, g,
b, d, f, g,
k, l, m, gou goh
k, l, m,
n, p, s, t, About the same as English bing bing
n, p, s, t,
w, y, ch, nei nay
w, j, tʃ, ʃ
sh
c /tsʰ/ "ts" like in "cats" ca, cang tsah, tsahng
like the "j" in "jar",
but the blade of the tongue replaces the tip
j /tɕ/ against the mouth roof and the tongue tip ji, jun jee, jwin
is placed against the back of the lower
teeth.
q /tɕʰ/ like "ch" in "cheese", qi, qiao chee, chee-yow
but the blade of the tongue replaces the tip
against the mouth roof and the tongue tip
 is placed against the back of the lower
teeth.
No English equivalent.
Like a "j" and "r" together, as in
"pleasure".
r /ʐ/ ren, run jrun, jrwun
A retroflex sound; the tongue is similar to
the normal "r" but is curled further back in
the mouth
"sh" as in "she",
but the blade of the tongue replaces the tip
x /ɕ/ against the mouth roof and the tongue tip xin, xing sheen, shing
is placed against the back of the lower
teeth.
z /ts/ like the "dz" sound in "lids" zou, zao dzoh, dzow
zh /tʂ/ similar to the "g" in "merger" zhou, zhao joh, jow
Finals
These endings always begin with a vowel but may finish with vowels, consonants or diphthongs.
Pinyin Approximate
IPA English Equivalent Examples
Final Pronunciation
a /a/ "ah" as in "law" ma, fa mah, fah
ai /ai/ "y" as in "my" tai, bai tie, by
an /an/ "ahn" man, kan mahn, kahn
ang /aŋ/ "ahng" as in "ping pong" rang, tang rahng, tahng
ao /au/ "ow" like in "how" nao, chao now, chow
e /ə/ like the "u" sound in "bush" de, ne duh, nuh
ei /ei/ "ay" as in "pay" nei, bei neigh, bay
en /ən/ "en" as in "taken" hen, pen hen, pen
eng /əŋ/ "ung" reng, heng rung, hung
er /ɑɹ/ same as "are" er are
"ee" as in "bee" when
/i/ after b, d, j, l, m, pi, ti, ni pee, tee, nee
n, p, q, t, x
i
z like a "zz" after z, c and s ci, zi tsz, dz
like an "r" after ch, sh, zh and
/ɝ/ chi, zhi chr, jr
r
"ee-ah" like in "Mia",
ia /ia/ xia, jia shee-ah, jee-ah
but said in one syllable
ian /ian/ "ee-en" (1syllable) tian, pian tee-en, pee-en
iang /iaŋ/ "ee-ang" (1 syllable) xiang shee-ang
 "ee-yow", as in the
iao /iau/ piao pee-yow
cat�s "meow" (1 syllable)
ie /iɛ/ "ee-yeh" (1 syllable) bie bee-yeh
in /in/ "een" qin, xin cheen, sheen
ing /iŋ/ "ing" as in "ring" ting, ping ting, ping
iong /uŋ/ "ee-ong" (1 syllable) xiong shee-ong
iu /iə/ "eo" as in "Leo" liu, niu leo, neo
identical to the pinyin syllable
"uo"
pronounced like w as in "wet";
o /uə/ followed by a sound wo, fo wo, fwo
pronounced somewhat like o
as in "hot", but with the mouth
not as open.
No English equivalent.
ong /uŋ/ like "own" but with a "ng" tong, nong tohng, nohng
sound replacing the "n".
ou /əu/ "oh" tou, lou toh, loh
like "oo" in "moo" after most
/u/ tu, mu too, moo
letters
u after j, q, x and y
/y/ it is pronounced as "�" (see yu, xu, ju y�, x�, j�
below)
No English equivalent.
� /y/ Like the French "eu". Used l�, n� l�, n�
only after n and l.
ua /ua/ "wah" sound, as in "wash" gua, shua gwah, shwah
uai /uai/ same as "why" guai, huai gwhy, hwhy
/uan/ "wahn" after most letters nuan, huan nwahn, hwahn
uan
/yan/ "wen" as in went after j, q, x, y quan, yuan qwen, ywen
uang /uaŋ/ "wahng" guang gwahng
ue or "oo-weh" (1 syllable)
/yɛ/ xue, n�e shoo-eh, noo-eh
�e Written �e after n and l
ui /uei/ same as "way" hui, dui hway, dway
"one" is the closest sound in
English,
/uen/ dun, zun dwun, dzwun
but the vowel sound is closer
un to the "oo" in "book".
After j,q and x pronounced
/yn/ jun, xun xwin, jwin
like "win"
 identical to the pinyin syllable
"o"
pronounced like w as in "wet";
uo /uə/ followed by a sound nuo, cuo nwo, tswo
pronounced somewhat like o
as in "hot", but with the mouth
not as open.
Pinyin Tones
high pitch, remaining even throughout the
syllable
āēīōūǖ
At the top of one's pitch and held for a
moment, being sung instead of spoken.
rising pitch, starting low and rising
� � �
throughout the syllable
� � ǘ
As in asking a question, "Can you swim?".
falling pitch, starting at about mid-range,
dropping, then rising sharply.
ǎěǐǒǔǚ
Like the English tone used in emphasizing or
scolding sentences.
sharply falling pitch, from high to low.
� � �
Similar to the tone used in English
� � ǜ
imperatives like "GO!"" or "Stop!".
A neutral tone on a short, unstressed syllable
5th
a e i o u � that takes its even pitch from the
Tone
endpoint of the previous syllable.

Tone Sandhi
Tones of a syllable will sometimes change depending on surrounding tones. Although the tone
indicators do not change, the spoken tones do.
If two 3rd tones are in a row, the first is pronounced as a 2nd. This applies to any length string
A) of 3rd tone syllables.
xiǎng mǎi hǎo mǎ => xi�ng m�i h�o mǎ
When a third tone syllable is followed by a tone other than third tone, it changes to a low
rising tone that is actually the first half of the 3rd tone and is fittingly called the "1/2 third
B)
tone".
hǎo shū => hao1/2 of 3 shū
In a 3 syllable string, when a tone 2 syllable is preceded by a tone 1 or 2 and followed by any
C) tone other than neutral tone, the 2nd syllable changes to tone 1.
sān ni�n j� => sān niān j�
D) 一/yī and 不/b�, in connected speech, become a 2nd tone before a 4th tone; and a 4th tone
before all other tones.
A) yī w�n => y� w�n............b� du� => b� du�
B)yī tiān => y� tiān