Most Mandarin words have a specific tone to them which must be used when saying the words. The transliterated Mandarin has tone marks over a vowel in most words which show you how the word should be pronounced. The four tones are:
Mandarin Phonetics |
English Equivalent Pronunciation |
|---|---|
| a | a, as in are & father |
| ao | ow, as in how & down |
| e | a, as in about & ago |
| ei | a, as in cake & say |
| i | i, as in sit & it |
| ia / ie | ye, as in yes & yet |
| o | aw, as in saw & all |
| ou | o, as in go & note |
| u | oo, as in too |
| uo | oo+aw, as in war |
Most Chinese consonants are similar to English consonants except for the following list.
| Mandarin Phonetics | English Equivalent Pronunciation |
|---|---|
| c | A little like ch, as in church, but the tongue touches the lower front teeth |
| ch | ch, as in church & chain |
| g | g, as in girl and go |
| j | j, as in jam & jump, but softer &the tongue touches the lower front teeth |
| q | tch |
| y | y, as in yes & yet |
| z | like j, but softer |
| zh | j, as in jam & jeans |
一 |
1 | Yi |
| 二 | 2 | Èr |
| 三 | 3 | San |
| 四 | 4 | Sì |
| 五 | 5 | Wû |
| 六 | 6 | Liù |
| 七 | 7 | Qì |
| 八 | 8 | Ba |
| 九 | 9 | Jiû |
| 十 | 10 | Shí |