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“I want to learn Chinese but just give me the basics!”

That’s what this Chinese pronunciation guide is all about. It’s all that you need to know about the pinyin system of Chinese pronunciation to get by.

The 80% that’s important. (Spend 20% of time to learn the 80% that’s important.)

Continued from Part 1, learn Chinese pronunciation, the 4 tones…

1. Consonants

There are 24 consonants in pinyin which are pronounced a lot like in English.

b, p, m, f, d, t, n, l, g, k, ng, h, j, q, x, zh, ch, sh, r, z, c, s, y, w

Learn Chinese pronunciation of Consonants

b as in boy
p as in pine
m as in mother
f as in food
d as in dig
t as in talk
n as in none
l as in loud
g as in good
k as in kid
ng as in song
h as in hot
j as in jeep
q like “ch” in cheat
x like a sound between the “s” in see and the “sh” in she
zh like “dg” in sludge
ch as in children
sh as in shake
r as in raw
z like “ds” in words
c like “ts” in eats
s as in son
y as in Yao Ming
w as in we

2. Vowels

There are 6 simple vowels.

a, o, e, i, u,

Learn Chinese pronunciation of Vowels

- a as in mama
- o as in drop
- e as in
- I as in sit
- U as in look
- like the u in the French rue

3. Vowel Combinations

In Chinese pronunciation, basic vowels can form vowel combinations with each other or with a nasal consonant.

Learn Chinese pronunciation of Vowel Combinations

- ai like eye
- an sounds like “ah” with an emphatic “n” at the end (NOT like “an” in can)
- ang sounds like “ah” with a soft “ng” (NOT like “ang” in hang)
- ao is like “ao” in Tao
- ei is like “ay” in bay
- en is like “u” in sun
- eng is like “ung” in sung
- er like “ur” in purse
- ia is like ya
- iang is like young
- ie is like yeah
- iu is like the “ou” in you
- ian like yen
- iao is like “eow” in meow
- in as in “in” in gin
- ing as in “ing” in sing
- iong is like pinyin “yong”
- ong is like “ong” in kong
- ou is like “ow” in low
- ua is like “ua” in guava
- uan like one
- uang like “oo” + ang
- ui is like way
- un is like “wou” in would and ending in “n” sound (woon)
- uo sounds like “wo” as in wall
- uai is like why
- ua is like “wa”
- an like yuan and written without two dots
- e is like “yue” (”we” in “wet”)

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