{"id":182278,"date":"2018-02-28T23:34:33","date_gmt":"2018-03-01T04:34:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/learn\/chinese-vowels\/"},"modified":"2025-01-17T06:24:58","modified_gmt":"2025-01-17T11:24:58","slug":"chinese-vowels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/chinese\/chinese-vowels\/","title":{"rendered":"The Easy Guide to Chinese Vowels in Pinyin"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Chinese characters can be translated into a romanized version called pinyin. This spells out the characters in a way that is easier for Latin language speakers to understand.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>While <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/chinese\/chinese-pinyin-pronunciation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pinyin<\/a> does make <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/chinese\/hardest-chinese-words-to-pronounce\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pronunciation<\/a> much easier, it is important to know how the vowels sound as they play an important part in Chinese tone. Discover how to use vowels in Chinese in the guide below.\u00a0<br \/>\n[fluentu-toc]<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<h2>Simple vowels in Chinese<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Simple vowels <\/strong>in Chinese are sounds that are spelled with <strong>just one vowel <\/strong>to include:\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em><strong>a<\/strong><\/em> \u2014 sounds like <em>ah<\/em>; used in \u9a6c<em>\u00a0(m\u01ce)<\/em> meaning &#8220;horse&#8221;<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>o<\/strong><\/em> \u2014 sounds like\u00a0<em>oh<\/em>; used in \u6211<em>\u00a0(w\u01d2)<\/em> meaning &#8220;I&#8221;<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>e<\/strong><\/em> \u2014 sounds like <em>uh<\/em> but with a wider mouth; used in \u548c <em>(h\u00e9)<\/em> meaning &#8220;and&#8221;<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>i<\/strong><\/em> \u2014 sounds like <em>ee<\/em>; used in \u529b<em>\u00a0(l\u00ec)<\/em> meaning &#8220;power&#8221;<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>u<\/strong><\/em> \u2014 sounds like <em>oo<\/em>; used in \u670d <em>(f\u00fa)<\/em> meaning &#8220;clothes&#8221;<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>\u00fc<\/strong><\/em> \u2014 sounds like <em>u<\/em> in &#8220;June&#8221;; used in \u53bb<em>\u00a0(q\u00f9)<\/em><strong>*<\/strong> meaning &#8220;go&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Got it? Now we&#8217;re ready to move on to compound vowels.<\/p>\n<h2>Compound vowels in Chinese<\/h2>\n<p>As you might have guessed, <strong>compound vowels are made up of two or three vowels.<\/strong>\u00a0In some cases, they&#8217;re<strong> paired with special consonants<\/strong>. Adding an initial consonant to a compound vowel forms a one-syllable character.<\/p>\n<p>Compound vowels\u00a0can contain:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Two simple vowels<\/li>\n<li>Three simple vowels<\/li>\n<li>One vowel + one special consonant <em>(n)<\/em><\/li>\n<li>One vowel + two special consonants <em>(ng)<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Two vowels + one special consonant<\/li>\n<li>Two vowels + two special consonants<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><em>a<\/em>&#8211; finals<\/h2>\n<p>Finals in Mandarin Chinese are the second part of a syllable and are made up of vowels and vowel-consonant combinations (initials are the first part and made up of consonants).\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em><strong>ao <\/strong><\/em>\u2192\u00a0ah + oh,\u00a0like in \u732b <em>(m\u0101o)<\/em> \u2014 cat<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>ai<\/strong><\/em> \u2192 ah + ee\u00a0or the word &#8220;eye&#8221; but less emphasis on the &#8220;-ye&#8221; sound, like in \u83dc <em>(c\u00e0i)\u00a0\u2014\u00a0<\/em>cuisine or vegetables<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>an<\/strong><\/em> \u2192 ah + n, like in \u96be <em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">(<\/span>n\u00e1n)<\/em> \u2014\u00a0difficult<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>ang<\/strong><\/em> \u2192 ah + ng, like in \u5531 <em>(ch\u00e0ng)<\/em><em>\u00a0\u2014\u00a0<\/em>to sing<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><em>o<\/em>&#8211; finals<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><em><strong>ou<\/strong><\/em> \u2192 the word &#8220;oh&#8221; or the letter &#8220;o,&#8221; like in \u72d7 <em>(g\u01d2u)<\/em> \u2014 dog<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>ong<\/strong><\/em> \u2192 o + ng, like in \u7ea2 <em>(h\u00f3ng)<\/em> \u2014 red<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><em>e<\/em>&#8211; finals<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><em><strong>ei<\/strong><\/em> \u2192 &#8220;-ey&#8221; in &#8220;hey&#8221; or the letter &#8220;a,&#8221; like in \u5317 <em>(b\u011bi)<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 black<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>en<\/strong><strong> \u2192<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0uh + n,\u00a0like in \u95fb\u00a0<em>(w\u00e9n)<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 to smell<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>eng<\/strong><\/em> \u2192 uh + ng, like in \u51b7 <em>(l\u011bng)<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 cold<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>er<\/strong><\/em> \u2192 uh + r, like in \u4e8c <em>(\u00e8r)<\/em> \u2014 two<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><em>i<\/em>&#8211; finals<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><em><strong>ia<\/strong><\/em> \u2192 ee + ah, like \u4e0b <em>(xi\u00e0)<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 down<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>ie<\/strong><\/em> \u2192 ee + eh, like \u5225 <em>(bi\u00e9)<\/em> \u2014 do not<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>iu<\/strong><\/em> \u2192 ee + o, like \u7403 <em>(qi\u00fa)<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 ball<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>iao<\/strong><\/em> \u2192 ee + ow with less emphasis on the &#8220;w,&#8221; like \u8df3 <em>(ti\u00e0o)<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 to jump<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>in<\/strong><\/em> \u2192 ee + n, like \u56e0 <em>(y\u012bn)<\/em> \u2014 because<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>ing<\/strong><\/em> \u2192 ee + ng, like \u7adf <em>(j\u00ecng)<\/em> \u2014\u00a0actually<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>ian<\/strong><\/em> \u2192 ee + ehn, like \u5e74 <em>(ni\u00e1n)<\/em>\u00a0\u2014\u00a0year<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>iang<\/strong><\/em> \u2192 ee + ahng, like \u4e24 <em>(li\u01ceng)<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 two or pair<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>iong<\/strong><\/em> \u2192 ee + ohng,\u00a0like \u7a77\u00a0<em>(qi\u00f3ng)<\/em> \u2014\u00a0poor<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><em>u<\/em>&#8211; finals<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><em>ua \u2192<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0oo + ah, like \u74dc <em>(gu\u0101<\/em>) \u2014 melon<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>uo<\/strong><\/em> \u2192 oo + the &#8220;who-&#8221; in &#8220;whoa,&#8221; like \u706b <em>(hu\u01d2)<\/em> \u2014 fire\u00a0<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>ue<\/strong><\/em> \u2192 oo + eh, like \u6708 <em>(yu\u00e8)<\/em> \u2014 month or moon<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>ui<\/strong><\/em> \u2192 oo + -&#8220;ey&#8221; in &#8220;hey,&#8221; like \u817f <em>(tu\u01d0 )<\/em> \u2014 leg<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>uai<\/strong><\/em> \u2192 oo + ah + ee, like \u5feb <em>(ku\u00e0i)<\/em> \u2014 fast\u00a0<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>un<\/strong><\/em> \u2192 oo + ehn, like \u8bba <em>(l\u00f9n)<\/em> \u2014 theory\u00a0<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>uan <\/strong><\/em>\u2192\u00a0oo + ahn, like \u8fdc <em>(yu\u01cen)<\/em> \u2014 far\u00a0<\/li>\n<li><strong><em>uang \u2192<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0oo + ahng, like \u5149 <em>(gu\u0101ng)<\/em> \u2014 light or luster\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><em>\u00fc<\/em>&#8211; finals<\/h2>\n<p>Last, but not least, the finals with<strong>\u00a0\u00fc <\/strong>are<em>:<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em><strong>\u00fce<\/strong><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><strong>\u00fcn<\/strong><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><strong>\u00fcan<\/strong><\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These compound vowels are actually not normally included in Chinese vowels because <strong>they&#8217;re <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/chinese\/chinese-pronunciation-guide\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pronounced<\/a> the same as <em>yue<\/em>,<em> yun\u00a0<\/em>and<em>\u00a0yuan<\/em><\/strong>, with\u00a0<em>\u00fc<\/em>\u00a0being the same as <em>yu<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Since they have the same pronunciation, the dots in the <strong><em>\u00fc<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>(aka umlaut) are dropped to avoid redundancy. Thus, even though \u4e91 <em>(y\u00fan),<\/em> the character for <strong>cloud<\/strong>, could technically be written with the umlaut, it&#8217;s not necessary. The same goes for when these finals are combined with consonants <em><strong>j<\/strong><\/em>,<em><strong> q<\/strong><\/em> and <em><strong>x<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Examples:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u89c9 <em>(ju\u00e9)<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 to feel \u2192 sounds like j + weh<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>\u88d9 <em>(q\u00fan)<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 skirt \u2192 sounds like ch + win- in &#8220;wing&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>\u9009 <em>(xu\u01cen)<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 to choose\u00a0\u2192 sounds like sh\u00a0+ the word &#8220;when&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The only time the\u00a0<strong>\u00fc<\/strong>\u00a0appears in text is <strong>when it must be distinguished from the <em>u<\/em> sound<\/strong>, like\u00a0<em>l\u00fc<\/em> and\u00a0<em>lu<\/em>, as well as <em>n\u00fc<\/em> and\u00a0<em>nu<\/em>. Here are example characters:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u7eff <em>(l\u01dc)<\/em> \u2014 green \u2192 sounds like l + &#8220;u&#8221; sound in &#8220;June&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>\u8def <em>(l\u00f9)<\/em> \u2014 road \u2192 sounds like the name &#8220;Lou&#8221; but with a hard &#8220;l&#8221; sound<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>\u5973 <em>(n\u01da) \u2014\u00a0<\/em>girl \u2192 sounds like &#8220;ne&#8221; in &#8220;new&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>\u6012 <em>(n\u00f9)<\/em> \u2014 rage \u2192 sounds like &#8220;nu&#8221; in &#8220;nude&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Who knew that there was so much groundwork to cover when it comes to Chinese vowels? This post includes plenty of audio examples, but you can also study these vowels further by hearing them in use by native Chinese speakers. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/chinese\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">FluentU<\/a>, for instance, has hundreds of videos paired with learning tools to hear correct pronunciation naturally and in context. <span data-sheets-root=\"1\"><p><strong>FluentU<\/strong> takes authentic videos\u2014like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks\u2014and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.<\/p>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<p>You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.apple.com\/us\/app\/fluentu-learn-language-videos\/id917892175\">the iOS app<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/apps\/details?id=com.fluentflix.fluentu&amp;hl=en&amp;gl=US\">Android app.<\/a><\/p>\r\n<p><i><a data-bid=\"1\" data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/try\/april-sale-3331\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">P.S. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)<\/a><\/i>\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\r\n  <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/NativeAd-Chinese.jpg\" alt=\"FluentU Ad\" \/>\r\n  <p style=\"text-align: center\">\r\n    <button class=\"btn-blue\" style=\"border: none;font-size: 18px;text-align: center;padding: 0.75rem 1.5rem;cursor: pointer\">\r\n      Try FluentU for FREE!\r\n    <\/button>\r\n  <\/p>\r\n<\/a>\r\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Once you&#8217;ve got these down, you can\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/chinese\/2015\/01\/19\/practice-chinese-tones\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">move on to practicing the tones<\/a>, and then from there, pinyin will be a breeze.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<p><span data-sheets-root=\"1\"><h2>And One More Thing...<\/h2>\r\n<p>\r\nIf you want to continue learning Chinese with interactive and authentic Chinese content, <a data-bid=\"1\" data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/try\/april-sale-3331\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">then you'll love FluentU<\/a>.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\nFluentU naturally eases you into learning Chinese language. Native Chinese content comes within reach, and you'll learn Chinese as it's spoken in real life.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\nFluentU has a wide range of contemporary videos\u2014like dramas, TV shows, commercials and music videos.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<div id=\"attachment_12840\" style=\"width: 330px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a data-bid=\"1\" data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/try\/april-sale-3331\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12840\" class=\" wp-image-12840 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Chinese-5.png\" alt=\"learn-mandarin-chinese-with-videos\" width=\"320\" height=\"568\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-12840\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/chinese\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">FluentU App Browse Screen<\/a><\/p><\/div>\r\n<p>\r\n<strong>FluentU brings these native Chinese videos within reach via interactive captions.<\/strong> You can tap on any word to instantly look it up. All words have carefully written definitions and examples that will help you understand how a word is used. Tap to add words you'd like to review to a vocab list.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<div id=\"attachment_12843\" style=\"width: 330px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a data-bid=\"1\" data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/try\/april-sale-3331\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12843\" class=\"wp-image-12843 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Chinese-6.png\" alt=\"learn-mandarin-chinese-with-subtitled-song-and-music-videos\" width=\"320\" height=\"568\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-12843\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/chinese\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Interactive Transcripts on FluentU<\/a><\/p><\/div>\r\n<p>\r\nFluentU's <strong>Learn Mode<\/strong> turns every video into a language learning lesson. You can always swipe left or right to see more examples for the word you're learning.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<div id=\"attachment_12844\" style=\"width: 330px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a data-bid=\"1\" data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/try\/april-sale-3331\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12844\" class=\"wp-image-12844 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Chinese-7.png\" alt=\"practice-mandarin-chinese-with-adaptive-quizzes\" width=\"320\" height=\"568\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-12844\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/chinese\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">FluentU Has Quizzes for Every Video<\/a><\/p><\/div>\r\n<p>\r\nThe best part is that FluentU always keeps track of your vocabulary. It customizes quizzes to focus on areas that need attention and reminds you when it\u2019s time to review what you\u2019ve learned. <strong> You have a 100% personalized experience. <\/strong>\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\nStart using the FluentU website on your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the FluentU app from the iTunes or Google Play store. <a data-bid=\"1\" data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/try\/april-sale-3331\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)<\/a>\r\n<\/p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chinese characters can be translated into a romanized version called pinyin. This spells out the characters in a way that is easier for Latin language speakers to understand.\u00a0 While pinyin&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":731,"featured_media":246277,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"slim_seo":{"title":"The Easy Guide to Chinese Vowels in Pinyin | FluentU Chinese Blog","description":"One can only go so far in their Chinese-learning journey without mastering vowels. From simple to compound vowels, this is your all-inclusive guide to pronouncing Chinese vowels! By the end of this post, you'll know how the basics and be able to move on to more complicated topics like tones!"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[724,742],"tags":[],"coauthors":[184],"class_list":["post-182278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chinese","category-reading-and-writing-chinese"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/731"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=182278"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182278\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":242961,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182278\/revisions\/242961"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/246277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=182278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=182278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=182278"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=182278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}