1

2

3

4

1

i

u

ü

2

a

ia

ua

3

o

uo

4

e

ie

üe

5

er

6

ai

uai

7

ei

uei (ui)

8

ao

iao

9

ou

iou (iu)

10

an

ian

uan

üan

11

en

in

uen (un)

üen

12

ang

iang

uang

13

eng

ieng

ueng

14

ong

iong

Mandarin Pinyin

English Equivalent

ang

This “a” is similar to the Chinese “a” as described above, followed by an “ng”-sound. Do NOT pronounce this combination as the broad “ang” in “language”!

eng

“e” #2 + “ng” (almost similar to the “ang” in “language”, but the “e” has a little “taste” of the vowel sound in “bird” and “sir“).

ong

This syllable corresponds to the Pinyin “u” + “ng“. The “o” is here most similar to the “o”-sound in “too“, “woman”, “loop”.

iang / yang

Pinyin “y” + “ang“. The spelling “yang” is used when there is no consonant in the beginning of a syllable.

uang / wang

English “w” + Pinyin “ang“. The spelling “wang” is used when there is no consonant in the beginning of a syllable.

ing / ying

As in English (”sing“). The spelling “ying” is used when there is no consonant in the beginning of a syllable.

ueng / weng

This sound only occurs in the syllable “weng“. Pronounced as English “w” + Pinyin “eng“.

iong / yong

This syllable corresponds to the Pinyin “y” + “u” + “ng“. The “o” is here most similar to the “o”-sound in “too“, “woman”, “loop”. The spelling “yong” is used when there is no consonant in the beginning of a syllable.