Humanities Languages An Insider's Guide to Mandarin Chinese Pronunciation Learn How to Pronounce Chinese Syllables With This Sound Chart Share Flipboard Email Print Ratnakorn Piyasirisorost / Getty Images Languages Mandarin Pronunciation & Conversation Basics History & Culture Vocabulary Chinese Characters English as a Second Language Spanish French German Italian Japanese Russian English Grammar View More by Qiu Gui Su Qiu Gui Su is a native Mandarin speaker who has taught Mandarin Chinese for over 20 years. Updated October 22, 2017 One of the first steps in learning Mandarin Chinese is becoming accustomed to the language's pronunciation. Learning how to pronounce Mandarin Chinese helps with speaking and listening skills as it is a tonal language. What Makes a Syllable?The Mandarin language has 21 consonants and 16 vowels. They can be combined together to create more than 400 mono-syllabic sounds. There are also four tones that change the meaning of the syllable, so in theory, there are about 1600 possible syllables. Only around 1000 of these are commonly used, however, which means that Mandarin words actually are more similar than words in English.Similar to English, you should learn to hear the differences and work on learning how to pronounce Chinese sounds.Sound ChartHere is a chart of the 37 sounds of Mandarin with a sound clip of each. Practice these as much as you can—they will provide the foundation learning how to pronounce Mandarin.The sounds are given in Pinyin, but please be aware that each letter does not represent just one sound. Just like how in English, the vowel "a" is pronounced differently in different cases. For example, compare the more nasally-sounding "ant" to the elongated "a" in "at". There are also many tricky cases you need to learn in Chinese!PinyinExplanationSound Clipbsimilar to 'b' in the English 'boat' - softened to approach a 'p' soundaudiopsimilar to 'p' in the English 'top' - with more aspirationaudiomsame as 'm' in the English 'mat'audiofsame as 'f' in the English 'fat'audiodsimilar to 'd' in the English 'down' - softened to approach a 't' soundaudiotsimilar to 't' in the English 'top' - with more aspirationaudionsimilar to 'n' in the English 'name'audiolsimilar to 'l' in the English 'look'audiogsimilar to 'g' in the English 'go' - softened to approach a 'k' soundaudioksimilar to 'k' in the English 'kiss' - with more aspirationaudiohsimilar to 'h' in the English 'hope' - with a slight rasp as in 'loch'audiojsimilar to 'j' in the English 'jeep' - tongue is positioned below lower teethaudioqsimilar to 'ch' in the English 'cheap' - tongue is positioned below lower teethaudioxsimilar to 'sh' in the English 'sheep' - tongue is positioned below lower teethaudiozhsimilar to 'j' in the English 'jam'audiochsimilar to 'ch' in the English 'cheap'audioshsimilar to 'sh' in the English 'ship'audiorsimilar to 'z' in the English 'azure'audiozsame as 'ds' in the English 'woods'audiocsimilar to 'ts' in the English 'bits'audiossimilar to 's' in the English 'see'audio(y)isimilar to 'ee' in the English 'bee'audio(w)usimilar to 'oo' in the English 'room'audioyupurse your lips and position the tongue high and forwardsaudioasimilar to 'ah' in the English 'Ah-hah!'audio(w)osimilar to 'or' in the English 'bore'audioesimilar to 'er' in the English 'hers'audio(y)esimilar to the English 'Yay!'audioaisimilar to the English 'eye'audioeisimilar to 'ei' in the English 'weigh'audioaosimilar to 'au' in the English 'sauerkraut'audioousimilar to 'ou' in the English 'dough'audioansimilar to 'an' in the English 'fan'audioensimilar to 'un' in the English 'under'audioanga Mandarin 'a' followed by the 'ng' sound like in the English 'sing'audioenga Mandarin 'e' followed by the 'ng' sound like in the English 'sing'audioera Mandarin 'e' with the tongue curled backaudio Continue Reading