1.1 Finals (Vowels)
Altogether, there are 35 finals (vowels) in standard Mandarin Chinese. A final can be a single vowel or a compound vowel.
Here are six single vowels:
a sounds like the a sound in the English word ‘father’
e sounds like the English exclamation sound uh
i sounds similar to the ea sound in the English word ‘tea’
o sounds similar to the English word ‘or’
u sounds similar to the oo sound in the English word ‘food’
ü sounds similar to the ew sound in the French word ‘few’
When ‘o’ is in the following syllables: bo, po, mo, fo, wo, it sounds like -uo, which is in between a oo- and a uh sound in English.
Also note that when the single final i is preceded by the initials z, c, s, zh, ch, sh and r, it is not pronounced in the same way as it is after j, q, x, for example. It is a short vowel extension of the initials preceding it. Go to the section on initials to hear how it is pronounced with z, c, s, zh, ch, sh and r.
Now listen to the above six single vowels, known as ‘finals’. You can also view the transcript.
Transcript
a
i
e
o
u
ü
There are 29 compound finals (vowels), i.e. vowel sounds containing two single finals or which combine finals with the nasal sound n or ng.
Compound finals that start with a and o
ai sounds similar to the i sound in the English word ‘bike’
ao sounds similar to the ow sound in the English word ‘how’’
an sounds similar to the on sound in the English word ‘concert’ and with a hint of the sound an in the word ‘can’
ang sounds similar to the sound on in the English words ‘Congo’ or ‘congregation’
ou sounds similar to the oe sound in the English word ‘toe’
ong sounds similar to the on in ‘ding-dong’ sound in the English words ‘bone’ or ‘phone’ but with an 'ng' sound at the end
Listen to the above six compound vowels, also known as ‘compound finals’:
Transcript
ai
ao
an
ang
ou
ong
ia | i + a |
ie | i + ei, sounds similar to the ye sound in the English word ‘yes’ |
iao | i + ao |
iu | i + ou, but spelt iu |
ian | i + an, sounds similar to the English word ‘yen’, as in the Japanese currency |
in | sounds similar to the in sound in the English word ‘tin’ |
ing | sounds similar to the ing sound in the English word ‘sing’ |
iang | i + ang, sounds similar to the English word ‘young’ |
iong | i + ong |
Listen to compound finals that start with i:
Transcript
ia
ie
iao
iu
ian
in
ing
iang
iong
ei | sounds similar to the ey sound in the English word ‘hey’ |
en | sounds similar to the un sound in the English word ‘hunt’ |
eng | sounds similar to the ung sound in the English word ‘hung’ |
Note there is a combination of e + r, which does not count as a compound final. It is pronounced with a combination of ir in ‘dirty’ with the retroflex r.
Listen to compound finals that start with e:
Transcript
ei
en
eng
ua | u + a |
uai | u + ai |
uan | u + an |
uang | u + ang, sounds similar to the won sound in the English word ‘wonder’ |
ui | u + ei, sounds similar to the wai sound in the English word ‘wait’ |
un | u + en |
ueng | u + eng |
uo | u + o, sounds similar to the English word ‘war’ |
Listen to compound finals that start with u:
Transcript
ua
uai
uan
uang
ui
un
ueng
üe | ü + ie |
üan | ü + an |
ün | ü + the nasal sound n, sounds similar to the n in the French word ‘une’ |
Listen to compound finals that start with ü:
Transcript
üe
üan
ün