How To · Pronunciation
The characters tell you what you are reading. The spelling underneath helps you say it. Start with one word, one sound, and one pitch pattern at a time.
水 “water” is shuǐ. The letters describe the syllable; the mark above the vowel gives its tone.
水 “water” is seoi2. The letters describe the Cantonese pronunciation; the final digit gives its tone.
These are pronunciation systems, not translations. Simplified and traditional characters are writing choices; either can be paired with Mandarin or Cantonese pronunciation.
A tone is the pitch pattern within a syllable. It can help distinguish words, so learn it together with the letters. Higher pitch does not mean louder, and you do not need a musical singing voice.
Take hǎo (好, “good”): h is the beginning sound, ao is the ending, and ǎ marks tone 3. You may also see it typed as hao3.
Pinyin letters have their own sound values. In particular, q, x, and zh are not read as English spellings. Learn them from recordings rather than guessing. The vowel ü, as in nǚ (女), is different from u; its dots are omitted after j, q, x and in spellings beginning with y.
Start with the classic mā · má · mǎ · mà comparison. The letters stay the same, but each tone points to a different word. Read each pitch line from left to right; higher means higher in your comfortable speaking range. These are sketches of pitch, not exact musical notes.
| Tone | Example | Pitch |
|---|---|---|
| 1 · ¯ | 妈 māmum / mom · ma1 | High and level |
| 2 · ´ | 麻 máhemp · ma2 | Rising |
| 3 · ˇ | 马 mǎhorse · ma3 | Low; dips and rises in isolation |
| 4 · ` | 骂 màto scold · ma4 | Falling |
Neutral tone: an unmarked syllable is often lighter and shorter, as with de in 我的 (wǒ de, “my/mine”). Its pitch depends on the surrounding speech. Numbered learning materials sometimes use 0 or 5 for it.
For more detail: MIT’s Mandarin tone notes and the University of Texas Pinyin guide.
In nei5 (你, “you”), n begins the syllable, ei completes the sound, and 5 gives the tone. The number is not pronounced aloud. Jyutping uses six tone numbers and does not add Pinyin-style tone marks.
A few spelling clues: j is a y-like beginning sound, aa and a represent different vowels, and ng can begin a syllable or stand on its own, as in ng5 (五, “five”). These spellings belong to Cantonese: do not read them using Pinyin rules.
Notice that several tones are level. Listen for their relative height as well as whether the voice moves.
| Tone | Example | Pitch |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 天 tin1sky | High and level |
| 2 | 水 seoi2water | Rises to high |
| 3 | 四 sei3four | Mid and level |
| 4 | 人 jan4person | Low, often falling |
| 5 | 五 ng5five | Rises from low |
| 6 | 路 lou6road | Low and level |
For a useful contrast, compare 買 maai5 (“buy”) with 賣 maai6 (“sell”). Keep the letters the same and change the pitch pattern.
Why do some books say nine tones? Syllables ending in -p, -t, or -k stop abruptly. Traditional descriptions count these “entering” tones separately. Jyutping writes them with 1, 3, or 6, so you still learn six tone numbers. Do not add a vowel after the final stop.
A Jyutping number is not a Pinyin number. Mandarin tone 3 is low/dipping; Cantonese tone 3 is mid-level. Keep the two systems separate when practising.
The Linguistic Society of Hong Kong’s Jyutping scheme explains the sounds and tone categories. The Chinese University of Hong Kong’s tone lesson provides listening examples.
Use these as a reference while listening. Start with an initial, a final, and a tone. A final is the whole part after the initial, so it can contain several sounds.
| Part | What it does | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Initial | The opening consonant, if present. | d in duàn |
| Final | Everything after the initial, excluding tone. | uan in duàn |
| Tone | The syllable’s pitch pattern. | The falling fourth tone in duàn |
For example, 段 duàn breaks down as d + uan + tone 4. Some syllables have no initial.
In Cantonese jan4 (人, “person”), j is the initial, an is the final, and 4 is the tone.
Open the reference tables below. Each example links to the writing tool; its listening button plays the whole character, not an isolated letter. Audio needs a matching voice on your device. The tips describe mouth movements; recordings remain the best model.
The symbols in square brackets are IPA sound symbols. Pairs such as b/p, d/t, and g/k mainly contrast a small release of air with a stronger puff, rather than following the English voiced/unvoiced distinction.
| Spelling | Example | How to read it |
|---|---|---|
| b[p] | 八 bāeight | Lips together; release without a strong puff of air. |
| p[pʰ] | 趴 pāto lie face down | Like b, with a clear puff of air. |
| m[m] | 妈 māmum / mom | Lips together; sound passes through the nose. |
| f[f] | 飞 fēito fly | Upper teeth touch the lower lip. |
| d[t] | 搭 dāto put up | Tongue tip behind the upper teeth; little puff. |
| t[tʰ] | 他 tāhe / him | Like d, with a clear puff of air. |
| n[n] | 你 nǐyou | Tongue tip behind the upper teeth; nasal sound. |
| l[l] | 来 láito come | Tongue tip touches behind the upper teeth; air flows around it. |
| g[k] | 哥 gēolder brother | Back of the tongue closes and releases; little puff. |
| k[kʰ] | 课 kèlesson | Like g, with a clear puff of air. |
| h[x] | 喝 hēto drink | Air rubs past the back of the tongue; often stronger than English h. |
| j[tɕ] | 鸡 jīchicken | Front of the tongue near the hard palate; little puff. Not English j. |
| q[tɕʰ] | 七 qīseven | Like j, with a clear puff of air. Not English q. |
| x[ɕ] | 西 xīwest | A soft hissing sound near the hard palate; not English x. |
| zh[tʂ] | 知 zhīto know | Tongue tip raised behind the tooth ridge; little puff. |
| ch[tʂʰ] | 吃 chīto eat | Like zh, with a clear puff of air. |
| sh[ʂ] | 书 shūbook | Tongue tip raised farther back than for s. |
| r[ɻ ~ ʐ] | 人 rénperson | Tongue raised back; a voiced, r-like sound, not a rolled r. |
| z[ts] | 早 zǎoearly | A ts-like release without a strong puff. |
| c[tsʰ] | 草 cǎograss | Like z, with a clear puff of air; not English c. |
| s[s] | 三 sānthree | A hiss near the front teeth. |
What about y and w? They help spell syllables without a consonant initial: yi, ya, wu, wa, yu. They are not extra members of the 21-initial list. A vowel can also start a syllable directly, as in ài (爱, “love”).
This table includes simple vowels and whole vowel combinations. Forms in parentheses show the fuller spelling behind a shortened final. Read each example as a syllable; not every initial can combine with every final.
| Spelling | Example | How to read it |
|---|---|---|
| a | 大 dàbig | Open vowel. |
| o | 波 bōwave | Rounded vowel; often has a brief u-like lead-in after b, p, m, f. |
| e | 饿 èhungry | An unrounded back vowel, unlike English e. |
| ai | 爱 àilove | Moves from a toward i. |
| ei | 黑 hēiblack | Moves toward i. |
| ao | 好 hǎogood | Moves from a toward a u-like ending. |
| ou | 口 kǒumouth | Moves toward u. |
| an | 山 shānmountain | Ends with the tongue-tip nasal n. |
| en | 人 rénperson | A central vowel followed by n. |
| ang | 上 shàngup / above | Ends with the back-of-tongue nasal ng. |
| eng | 冷 lěngcold | A central vowel followed by ng. |
| ong | 中 zhōngmiddle | Rounded vowel followed by ng. |
| er | 儿 érchild | A standalone r-coloured final. |
| i | 米 mǐrice | An ee-like vowel here; see the special i spellings below. |
| ia | 家 jiāhome | Move quickly from an i-like sound into a. |
| ie | 写 xiěto write | Move quickly from an i-like sound into an open e-like vowel. |
| iao | 小 xiǎosmall | Move quickly from an i-like sound into ao. |
| iu (iou) | 六 liùsix | Written iu after an initial; written you without one. |
| ian | 天 tiānsky | The a is closer to an e-like vowel here; ends in n. |
| in | 心 xīnheart | i + n; no extra e is written. |
| iang | 江 jiāngriver | Move quickly from an i-like sound into ang. |
| ing | 星 xīngstar | i + ng. |
| iong | 熊 xióngbear | A rounded vowel combination ending in ng; standalone spelling yong. |
| u | 路 lùroad | A rounded oo-like vowel. |
| ua | 花 huāflower | Move quickly from a u-like sound into a. |
| uo | 国 guócountry | Move quickly from a u-like sound into o. |
| uai | 快 kuàifast | Move quickly from a u-like sound into ai. |
| ui (uei) | 水 shuǐwater | Written ui after an initial; written wei without one. |
| uan | 关 guānto close | Move quickly from a u-like sound into an. |
| un (uen) | 春 chūnspring | Written un after an initial; written wen without one. |
| uang | 光 guānglight | Move quickly from a u-like sound into ang. |
| ueng | 翁 wēngold man | Normally encountered in the standalone spelling weng. |
| ü | 女 nǚfemale / woman | Rounded lips with the tongue forward; dots remain after n and l. |
| üe | 月 yuèmoon | Written yue alone; xue, jue, que after x, j, q; nüe and lüe keep the dots. |
| üan | 元 yuánunit / yuan | Written yuan alone; juan, quan, xuan after j, q, x. |
| ün | 云 yúncloud | Written yun alone; jun, qun, xun after j, q, x. |
A final can end in a nasal or a vowel glide, or have no closing sound. The letter r also needs a separate explanation.
| Spelling | Example | How to read it |
|---|---|---|
| -n | 山 shānmountain | Tongue-tip nasal ending; no extra vowel after it. |
| -ng | 上 shàngup / above | Back-of-tongue nasal ending, like the end of English sing; no released g. |
| -i | 爱 àilove | A vowel glide in endings such as ai and ei. |
| -u / written -o | 好 hǎogood | A rounding glide: written u in ou, but o in ao and iao. |
| er / -r | 儿 érchild | er is a standalone final. Added -r can colour a preceding syllable (erhua), rather than forming a separate ordinary consonant ending. |
| Rule | What you see |
|---|---|
| i without a consonant initial | i → yi, ia → ya, ie → ye, iao → yao, iou → you, ian → yan, in → yin, iang → yang, ing → ying, iong → yong. |
| u without a consonant initial | u → wu, ua → wa, uo → wo, uai → wai, uei → wei, uan → wan, uen → wen, uang → wang, ueng → weng. |
| ü without a consonant initial | ü → yu, üe → yue, üan → yuan, ün → yun. The sound stays rounded even though the dots disappear. |
| Shortened finals after an initial | iou → iu (liù), uei → ui (shuǐ), uen → un (chūn). |
| ü after j, q, x | The dots are omitted: ju, qu, xu contain the ü sound. Keep the dots after n/l: nǚ differs from nǔ, and lǜ from lù. In jun/qun/xun, written un represents ün. |
| Two special uses of i | In zi, ci, si and zhi, chi, shi, ri, i does not sound like the vowel in mǐ. Keep the tongue near the preceding consonant’s position; listen to each group. |
| Tone-mark position | Mark a first, otherwise e; in ou, mark o. In iu/ui, mark the last vowel: liù, shuǐ. A marked i loses its dot. |
| Apostrophe between syllables | Before a following a-, o-, or e-initial syllable, an apostrophe can clarify the boundary: Xī’ān has two syllables; xiān has one. |
| er and an added -r | ér is a syllable of its own. In erhua, -r colours the preceding final, as in huār (花儿); do not automatically add another syllable. |
Rare extras: the conventional 36-final teaching list does not cover every interjection. You may also encounter ê and syllabic m, n, ng. Learn those in context rather than treating them as freely interchangeable finals.
Reference inventories: MIT’s Pinyin finals chart and MIT’s Pinyin overview.
| Spelling | Example | How to read it |
|---|---|---|
| b | 巴 baa1to cling | Lips close and release, with little puff. |
| p | 怕 paa3to fear | Like b, with a clear puff. |
| m | 媽 maa1mum / mom | A nasal sound made with closed lips. |
| f | 花 faa1flower | Upper teeth at the lower lip. |
| d | 打 daa2to hit | Tongue-tip release, with little puff. |
| t | 他 taa1he / him | Like d, with a clear puff. |
| n | 你 nei5you | Tongue-tip nasal sound. |
| l | 來 loi4to come | Air passes around the sides of the tongue. |
| g | 家 gaa1home | Back-of-tongue release, with little puff. |
| k | 近 kan5near | Like g, with a clear puff. |
| ng | 我 ngo5I / me | The ng sound can begin a Cantonese syllable. |
| h | 好 hou2good | An h-like breath sound. |
| gw | 瓜 gwaa1melon | A single labialized initial: g-like release with rounded lips. |
| kw | 誇 kwaa1to boast | A single labialized initial, like gw with a puff. |
| w | 話 waa6speech / words | A rounded w-like beginning. |
| z | 早 zou2early | A ts-like sound, sometimes more ch-like before front vowels; little puff. |
| c | 車 ce1vehicle | Like z, with a clear puff. |
| s | 三 saam1three | An s-like hiss. |
| j | 人 jan4person | A y-like sound, not the English j. |
A syllable can also have no initial, as in aa3 (亞). Unlike the Pinyin spelling helpers, Jyutping j and w are initials. gw and kw each count as one rounded consonant initial.
These vowel spellings combine with endings to form finals. Vowel quality can shift with the ending; the same letter is not a promise of one identical sound in every final.
| Spelling | Example | How to read it |
|---|---|---|
| i | 詩 si1poem | Usually a long ee-like vowel; in ing/ik it is closer to [e]. |
| yu | 書 syu1book | A rounded front vowel: keep the tongue forward and the lips rounded; not y + English oo. |
| u | 夫 fu1husband | Usually a long oo-like vowel; the vowel in ung/uk (and rare um/up) is closer to [o]. |
| e | 些 se1some | An open e-like vowel; ei has a different, closer starting vowel. |
| eo | 詢 seon1to inquire | A shorter rounded central vowel in eoi, eon, eot; eo is not a standalone final. |
| oe | 鋸 goe3saw | A longer rounded front vowel; keep it distinct from eo. |
| o | 可 ho2can / may | An open rounded vowel; ou has a closer starting vowel. |
| a | 新 san1new | The shorter, more central a vowel; distinct from aa. |
| aa | 沙 saa1sand | The longer, more open a vowel. |
Read across from the vowel to its ending. A dash means that combination is not listed in this scheme. This includes uncommon syllables, not just the finals you will meet in a first lesson. Initials and finals still have combination restrictions.
| Vowel | Open | -i | -u | -m | -n | -ng | -p | -t | -k |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| i | i | — | iu | im | in | ing | ip | it | ik |
| yu | yu | — | — | — | yun | — | — | yut | — |
| u | u | ui | — | um* | un | ung | up* | ut | uk |
| e | e | ei | eu* | em* | en* | eng | ep* | et* | ek |
| eo | — | eoi | — | — | eon | — | — | eot | — |
| oe | oe | — | — | — | — | oeng | — | oet† | oek |
| o | o | oi | ou | — | on | ong | — | ot | ok |
| a | a† | ai | au | am | an | ang | ap | at | ak |
| aa | aa | aai | aau | aam | aan | aang | aap | aat | aak |
* Less common finals, often found in colloquial words, interjections, or borrowed sounds. † a and oet were added to the scheme in 2018. Bare a is a short vowel; it is different from aa. m and ng can also be whole syllables; they appear in their own table below.
| Spelling | Example | How to read it |
|---|---|---|
| none | 花 faa1flower | An open final ends in the vowel itself. |
| -i | 四 sei3four | Ends in a vowel glide toward i. |
| -u | 好 hou2good | Ends in a vowel glide toward u. |
| -m | 心 sam1heart | Close the lips for the final nasal. |
| -n | 身 san1body | Tongue-tip nasal ending. |
| -ng | 生 saang1raw / alive | Back-of-tongue nasal ending; no released g. |
| -p | 十 sap6ten | Close the lips and stop; do not add an extra vowel. |
| -t | 八 baat3eight | Close at the tongue tip and stop; no extra vowel. |
| -k | 六 luk6six | Close at the back of the tongue and stop; no extra vowel. |
For -p, -t, -k, close the lips or tongue position without an extra puff or following vowel. These checked syllables take tone numbers 1, 3, or 6. Keep -m, -n, -ng distinct too: their closing positions can change the word.
| Spelling | Example | How to read it |
|---|---|---|
| m | 唔 m4not | A whole syllable made by humming with closed lips; it still carries a tone. |
| ng | 五 ng5five | A whole nasal syllable; no written vowel is missing. |
Reference inventories and spelling conventions: the Linguistic Society of Hong Kong’s Jyutping scheme, its Jyutping FAQ, and the Jyutping pronunciation charts.
Some words look almost identical in romanization until you notice the tone. Think of them as sound-alikes to keep apart: saying “sell” when you mean “buy” changes your message.
Listen to each word on its own, imitate its pitch, then watch or write the character. The different characters help you keep the meanings separate. These are tone contrasts between different words; context still matters in a real conversation.
Audio uses your device’s installed voices. If a matching Mandarin or Cantonese voice is unavailable, its listening buttons stay disabled. The Jyutping sound examples and Pinyin listening resources are alternatives. Writing exercises check strokes, not pronunciation.
The classic ma comparison keeps the beginning and ending sounds the same. Change only the tone: mā is “mum,” má is “hemp,” mǎ is “horse,” and mà is “to scold.” Listen to each word separately, then try saying the four in order.
The ending sound stays the same. Tone 3 stays low or dips; tone 4 falls. In these examples, you are looking at the simplified forms.
Both syllables have the letters wen. A falling tone gives you “ask”; a third tone gives you “kiss.” Practise the syllables separately before trying a sentence.
Compare the traditional characters for “buy” and “sell” with their Cantonese readings. Tone 5 rises from low; tone 6 stays low. Do not transfer the Mandarin tone patterns to these numbers.
Keep tong the same. Tone 1 is high and level; tone 4 is low and often falls. A change of pitch changes what you are asking for.
Readings and meanings were checked against our CC-CEDICT / CC-Canto dictionaries. For the soup/sugar contrast, see CUHK’s tong syllable list.
Test your ears: take the tone quiz →
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Hanzi Guide’s pronunciation buttons use voices available on your device. If Cantonese audio is unavailable, use the linked listening lessons rather than substituting a Mandarin voice.
Once you have heard the word, practise writing its strokes. Pronunciation and handwriting reinforce each other, but the stroke shape does not determine the tone.