Learning Mandarin Finals

Some Chinese finials are rather similar to English vowels, but it's important to hear the differences and get all details as accurate as possible!

Simple finals = single vowels. The Chinese finials all have quite logical pronunciation.Such as a、o、e、i、u、ü.

Compound finals = two or three vowels together. Such as ai, ao, ei, ou etc.

Nasal finals = single or compound vowel followed by "n" or "ng". Nasals are pronounced through the nose. In Mandarin Chinese, sounds ending in "n" are known as front nasals, while sounds ending in "ng" are known as back nasals.

Front nasals = sounds through the nose formed with the tongue in the front of the mouth.Such as an、en、in etc.

Back nasals = sounds through the nose formed with the tongue in the back of the mouth. Such as ang、eng、ing、ong etc.

Finals

Explanation

Sound Clip

a

similar to 'ah' in the English 'Ah-hah!'

(w)o

similar to 'or' in the English 'bore'

e

similar to 'er' in the English 'hers'

(y)e

similar to the English 'Yay!'

ai

similar to the English 'eye'

ei

similar to 'ei' in the English 'weigh'

ao

similar to 'au' in the English 'sauerkraut'

ou

similar to 'ou' in the English 'dough'

an

similar to 'an' in the English 'fan'

en

similar to 'un' in the English 'under'

ang

a Mandarin 'a' followed by the 'ng' sound like in the English 'sing'

eng

a Mandarin 'e' followed by the 'ng' sound like in the English 'sing'

er

a Mandarin 'e' with the tongue curled back