To continue with Chinese pronunciation...

1. Consonants

There are 24 consonants in pinyin which are pronounced a lot like in English.

b, p, m, f, d, t, n, l, g, k, ng, h, j, q, x, zh, ch, sh, r, z, c, s, y, w

Chinese pronunciation of Consonants

b as in boy


p as in pine


m as in mother


f as in food


d as in dig


t as in talk


n as in none


l as in loud


g as in good


k as in kid


ng as in song


h as in hot


j as in jeep


q like ch in cheat


x like a sound between the s in see and the sh in she


zh like dg in sludge


ch as in children


sh as in shake


r as in raw


z like ds in words


c like ts in eats


s as in son


y as in Yao Ming


w as in we

2. Vowels

There are 6 simple vowels.

a, o, e, i, u,

Chinese pronunciation of Vowels

a as in mama


o as in drop


e as in earn


I as in sit


U as in look


like the u in the French rue

3. Vowel Combinations

In Chinese pronunciation, basic vowels can form vowel combinations with each other or with a nasal consonant.

Chinese pronunciation of Vowel Combinations

- ai like eye


- an sounds like ah with an emphatic n at the end (NOT like an in can)


- ang sounds like ah with a soft ng (NOT like ang in hang)


- ao is like ao in Tao


- ei is like ay in bay


- en is like u in sun


- eng is like ung in sung


- er like ur in purse


- ia is like ya


- iang is like young


- ie is like yeah


- iu is like the ou in you


- ian like yen


- iao is like eow in meow


- in as in in in gin


- ing as in ing in sing


- iong is like pinyin yong


- ong is like ong in kong


- ou is like ow in low


- ua is like ua in guava


- uan like one


- uang like oo ang


- ui is like way


- un is like wou in would and ending in n sound (woon)


- uo sounds like wo as in wall


- uai is like why


- ua is like wa


- an like yuan and written without two dots


- e is like yue (we in wet)

Now, I know youre going to ask...

Get the rules and tips of using pinyin at http://www.living-chinese-symbols.com/chinese-pronunciation.html