Basics: Pronunciation
On this website, Pinyin and Zhuyin transcription are avaliable for Mandarin Chinese.
Current transcription: | Pīnyīn (tone marks) [change] |
Initials
Finals
IPA | Zhuyin | Pinyin | Pronunciation | |
Inital | Medial | |||
[y] | ㄩ | yu ![]() | ü ⁵ | French u or German ü |
[y̯ɛn] | ㄩㄢ | yuan ![]() | üan ⁵ | Pinyin ü + yen |
[y̯œ] | ㄩㄝ | yue ![]() | üe ⁵ | Pinyin ü + yet |
[yn] | ㄩㄣ | yun ![]() | ün ⁵ | Pinyin ü + n |
[i̯ʊŋ] | ㄩㄥ | yong ![]() | iong | y + ong |
1) [ɿ] only occurs following z, c or s – [i] never occurs following these consonants.
2) [ʅ] only occurs following zh, ch, sh or r – [i] never occurs following these consonants.
3) In unstressed syllables (neutral tone), e is pronounced as [ə].
4) Following b, p, m or f, [u̯ɔ] is written o, but uo elsewhere.
5) Following j, q or x, ü is written as u – The sound [u] never occurs after these consonants.
Tones

h) half 3rd tone f) full 3rd tone n) neutral tone
Tone sandhi
Tone sandhi means, that the tone of some syllables changes under certain circumstances.
3rd tone
Condition | Realisation | Example | |
• preceding other 3rd tone | like 2nd tone | ![]() | 你好 nǐhǎo |
• preceding 1st, 2nd, 4th or 5th tone | half 3rd tone | ![]() | 老师 lǎoshī |
• isolated or final | full 3rd tone | ![]() | 好 hǎo |
4th tone
Condition | Realisation | Example | |
• preceding other 4th tone | half 4th tone | ![]() | 再见 zàijiàn |
• preceding 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 5th tone | 4th tone (unchanged) | ![]() | 照片 zhàopiān |
• isolated or final |
Neutral tone
Condition | Realisation | Example | |
• following 1st tone | [˨] near-low | ![]() | 他们 tāmen |
• following 2nd tone | [˧] mid | ![]() | 来了 lái le |
• following 3rd tone | [˦] near-high | ![]() | 好吗 hǎo ma |
• following 4th tone | [˩] low | ![]() | 是的 shìde |
The character 不 (not)
Condition | Realisation | Example |
• preceding 4th tone | bú (2nd tone) | 不是 bú shì |
• preceding 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 5th tone | bù (4th tone) (unchanged) | 不想 bù xiǎng |
• isolated or final |
The character 一 (one)
Condition | Realisation | Example |
• preceding 4th tone | yí (2nd tone) | 一个 yí gè |
• preceding 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 5th tone | yì (4th tone) | 一般 yìbān |
• isolated or final | yī (1st tone) | 一 yī |