a
Like the “a” sound of the English word “ha“.
ha…la…ma…za…ta…fa
o
Like the “o” sound of the English word “Orange”. / lips round
However, when “o” compounds with initials b, p, m, and f, “o” will change the sound to “uo”.
o...bo…mo…po…fo…
i (yi)
Like the “ee” sound of the English word “sheep”, but raise your tongue higher.
If there are no initials before it, we need to spell it as “y”.
If it is alone, we need to spell it as “yi”.
yi...xi...ji...qie...liang...biao
u (wu)
Like the “oo” sound of the English word “coop”, but raise your tongue higher.
If there are no initials before it, we need to spell it as “w”.
If it is alone, we need to spell it as “wu”.
wu...hu...gu...shuai...guan...wang
ü
No equivalent pronunciation in English.
Position your tongue as if to pronounce “i”, and then turn your lips round.
If there are no initials before it, we need to spell it as “yu”.
If it is alone, we also spell it as “yu”.
When it combines with j, q, x, the two dots will disappear. (I don’t know why, so don’t ask me why…)
yu...yue...ju...xu...lü...nü
Note: When you are typing, you need to type “v” in your keyboard for the “ü”.
e (the most complicated one)
- When “e” appears by itself or with one consonant (not one syllable) before it, it sounds similar to the “u” sound of the English word “hurry”.
e…he...ge...de...zhe...she
- When “e” comes after an i, y, or yu/ü, it sounds like the “e” sound of the English word “letter”.
ye…yue...jue...xue...jie...xie
- When “ei” shows up, it sounds like the “A” sound of the English letter “A“.
(This one is not a simple final actually, is a combination final. I just put it here to do the comparison).
hei…lei…fei…nei…mei…bei
- When “er” shows up, it sounds like the “ir” sound of the English word “sir“. It only goes alone or for “erhua”
(This one is not a simple final actually, is a combination final. I just put it here to do the comparison).
er…huar..
Note: “Erhua” refers to a phonological process that adds “r” or the “er” sound to syllables in spoken Mandarin Chinese. If you want to know more about erhua, you can check this article: Chinese Compound Word
