To continue with Chinese pronunciation...

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

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, ü

Chinese pronunciation of Vowels

a as in mama
o as in drop
e as in earn
I as in sit
U as in look
ü 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.

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”
- üan like yuan and written without two dots
- üe is like “yue” (“we” in “wet”)

Now, I know you’re going to ask...

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