audio

Summary
Syllables= Initials+ Finals+ Tones

nǐ hǎo
你 好
Initials——shēngmǔ 声母

b p m f j q x

d t n l zh ch sh r

g k h z c s
Finals——yùnmǔ 韵母

a o e i u ü er

ai ei ao ou an en ang eng ong

ia ie iao iou ian in iang ing iong

ua uo uai uei uan uen uang ueng

Tones——shēngdiào 声调

55 35 214 51
5
4
3
2
1
the 1st tone the 2nd tone the 3nd tone the 4th tone
yīshēng èrshēng sānshēng sìshēng
The neutral tone
In Chinese ， some syllables lose their and
original tones and are pronounced lightly
short. This is known as a neutral tone, E.g.

Māma xièxie
妈妈 （ mother ） 谢谢
（ thanks ）
Different tones may express
different meanings
mā
妈 mother
má
linen 麻
mǎ
马 horse
mà
to scold 骂
Initial-final Combinations
a o e i u ü
b ba bo bi bu
p pa po pi pu
m ma mo me mi mu
f fa fo fu
d da de di du
t ta te ti tu
n na ne ni nu nü
l la le li lu lü
g ga ge gu
k ka ke ku
h ha he hu
Pronunciations drills
hē
bā drink
eight
dìdi
bàba younger
father brother
mìmi
māma secretmother
nǐ
dà you
big
bù
tā not
he/she/it
fùmǔ
nà parents
that
nǚ
gēge female
elder
lǜbrother green
kělè coke
yī 一
èr 二
sān 三
sì 四
wǔ 五
liù 六
qī 七
bā 八
jiǔ 九
shí 十