- Chinese Pronunciation Cheat Sheet

Chinese pronunciations are not intuitive for English speakers. The Chinese Phonetic Alphabet, also known as Hanyu Pinyin or just pīnyīn, is a romanised version of Chinese that uses Latin letters in ways that don’t match typical English usage.

This cheat sheet is not comprehensive but does cover the basics and many common pitfalls.

Consonants

The primary hurdle is the distinction between the J, Q, X sounds (tongue forward/down) and the Zh, Ch, Sh sounds (tongue curled back).

Pinyin Sounds Like… Examples / Notes
C Ts Like the end of ‘cats’.
Z Dz Like the end of ‘suds’.
J Jee Like ‘edge’.
Q Chee A sharp, aspirated ‘ch’ .
X Shee A soft ‘sh’ with the tongue behind the lower teeth.
Zh J Tongue curled back, like the ‘j’ in ‘judge’.
Ch Ch Tongue curled back, like ‘church’.
Sh Sh Tongue curled back, like ‘shore’.
R R / Zh Not a rolled ‘r’. Buzzy, like the ‘s’ in ‘pleasure’.

Vowels & Combinations

Pinyin vowels often change their sound based on the consonants they follow.

Pinyin Sounds Like… Examples / Notes
-i (after zh, ch, sh, r, z, c, s) (Buzzing) A ‘hollow’ vowel; a buzzy extension of the consonant.
-i (after others) Ee Like ‘see’.
e Uh Like the ‘u’ in ‘but’ or the ‘a’ in ‘about’.
-ou Oh Like ‘no’ or ‘tone’.
-ao Ow Like ‘how’ or ‘now’.
-ian Ee-en Often mispronounced, but is closer to ‘yen’.
-ü (Pursed Ee) Make an ‘ee’ sound while rounding your lips into a tight ‘O’.

Common Pitfalls

  • The Hidden ‘ü’: When the ü sound follows J, Q, X, or Y, the umlaut is dropped. Even if written as Ju, it is pronounced like Jü.
  • The ‘ui’ Shortcut: Pinyin -ui is shorthand for -uei. Therefore, Hui sounds more like ‘Hway’ than ‘Hoo-ee’.
  • Unvoiced Consonants: In Pinyin, B, D, and G are ‘unvoiced’. This means B sounds closer to a soft English P, and D sounds closer to a soft English T.

The Four Tones

  1. First (mā): High and level (like a sustained singing note).
  2. Second (má): Rising (like a question: ‘What?’).
  3. Third (mǎ): Low and dipping (like a slow, hesitant ‘Well…’).
  4. Fourth (mà): Sharp and falling (like a firm command: ‘Stop!’).