The sounds represented by "ch-," "sh-," and "zh-" in pinyin are all very similar sounds in Chinese. They're meant to be grouped together, and they should be learned together. The good news is that these sounds are not too different from the English "ch", "sh", and "j" sounds (note that "zh-" sounds like the English "j" sound; the pinyin "j-" sound is totally different beast, to be introduced later).

Pinyin's "ch", "sh", and "zh" Sounds

These are the famous "retroflex" sounds of Mandarin Chinese. You may have heard that to make these sounds, you have to "curl your tongue back into your mouth." You may have visions of the tip of your tongue pointing way into the back of your throat, your tongue horribly contorted. It's really not all that crazy. You just need to pull your tongue a bit further into the back of your mouth to pronounce these sounds properly, but you won't need to do any insane contortions.

Audio Pinyin Audio Pinyin Audio Pinyin chi1 chī shi1 shī zhi1 zhī

(First tone is most commonly used when introducing syllables in Mandarin Chinese.)

ch-

ch- is very similar to the English "ch" sound, except that in Mandarin Chinese the tongue position is a bit further back.

chi is not pronounced like "chee" , this is an alternate -i sound pretty similar to the zi, ci, si vowel sounds you learned before. To make the chi sound, try to pronounce the English word "chirp" , but STOP right as you get to the "r" sound. The chi sound has also been described as sounding like "chrrrrr" (which ryhmes with "brrrrr" , the sound you make when you're cold).

sh-

sh- is very similar to the English "sh" sound, except that in Mandarin Chinese the tongue position is a bit further back.

shi is not pronounced like "shee" , this is an alternate -i sound pretty similar to the zi, ci, si vowel sounds you learned before. To make the shi sound, try to pronounce the English word "shirt" , but STOP right as you get to the "r" sound. The shi sound has also been described as sounding like "shrrrrr" (which ryhmes with "brrrrr" , the sound you make when you're cold).

zh-

zh- is very similar to the English "j" sound, except that in Mandarin Chinese the tongue position is a bit further back.

zhi is not pronounced like "gee" , this is an alternate -i sound pretty similar to the zi, ci, si vowel sounds you learned before. To make the zhi sound, try to pronounce the English word "jerk" , but STOP right as you get to the "r" sound. The zhi sound has also been described as sounding like "zhrrrrr" (which ryhmes with "brrrrr" , the sound you make when you're cold).

Pinyin Chart Fragment

This is just a part of the full pinyin chart, limited to the sounds we've covered so far.

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-a- -a -ai -ao -an -ang -e- -e -ei -en -eng -er -o- -o -ou -ong -i- -i -i* -ia -iao -ie -iou -ian -iang -in -ing -iong -u- -u -ua -uai -uei -uo -uan -uang -uen -ueng -ü- zh- zha zha [tʂɑ] ㄓㄚ cha zhai zhai [tʂaɪ̯] ㄓㄞ chai zhao zhao [tʂɑʊ̯] ㄓㄠ chao zhan zhan [tʂan] ㄓㄢ chan zhang zhang [tʂɑŋ] ㄓㄤ chang zhe zhe [tʂɯ̯ʌ] ㄓㄜ che zhei zhei [tʂeɪ̯] ㄓㄟ chei zhen zhen [tʂən] ㄓㄣ chen zheng zheng [tʂəŋ] ㄓㄥ cheng zhou zhou [tʂɤʊ̯] ㄓㄡ chou zhong zhong [tʂʊŋ] ㄓㄨㄥ chung zhi zhi [tʂʅ] ㄓ chih zhu zhu [tʂu] ㄓㄨ chu zhua zhua [tʂu̯ɑ] ㄓㄨㄚ chua zhuai zhuai [tʂu̯aɪ̯] ㄓㄨㄞ chuai zhui zhui [tʂu̯eɪ̯] ㄓㄨㄟ chui zhuo zhuo [tʂu̯ɔ] ㄓㄨㄛ cho zhuan zhuan [tʂu̯an] ㄓㄨㄢ chuan zhuang zhuang [tʂ̯u̯ɑŋ] ㄓㄨㄤ chuang zhun zhun [tʂu̯ən] ㄓㄨㄣ chun zh- ch- cha cha [tʂʰɑ] ㄔㄚ ch'a chai chai [tʂʰaɪ̯] ㄔㄞ ch'ai chao chao [tʂʰɑʊ̯] ㄔㄠ ch'ao chan chan [tʂʰan] ㄔㄢ ch'an chang chang [tʂʰɑŋ] ㄔㄤ ch'ang che che [tʂʰɯ̯ʌ] ㄔㄜ ch'e chen chen [tʂʰən] ㄔㄣ ch'en cheng cheng [tʂʰəŋ] ㄔㄥ ch'eng chou chou [tʂʰɤʊ̯] ㄔㄡ ch'ou chong chong [tʂʰʊŋ] ㄔㄨㄥ ch'ung chi chi [tʂʰʅ] ㄔ ch'ih chu chu [tʂʰu] ㄔㄨ ch'u chua chua [tʂʰu̯ɑ] ㄔㄨㄚ ch'ua chuai chuai [tʂʰu̯aɪ̯] ㄔㄨㄞ ch'uai chui chui [tʂʰu̯eɪ̯] ㄔㄨㄟ ch'ui chuo chuo [tʂʰu̯ɔ] ㄔㄨㄛ ch'o chuan chuan [tʂʰu̯an] ㄔㄨㄢ ch'uan chuang chuang [tʂʰu̯ɑŋ] ㄔㄨㄤ ch'uang chun chun [tʂʰu̯ən] ㄔㄨㄣ ch'un ch- sh- sha sha [ʂɑ] ㄕㄚ sha shai shai [ʂaɪ̯] ㄕㄞ shai shao shao [ʂɑʊ̯] ㄕㄠ shao shan shan [ʂan] ㄕㄢ shan shang shang [ʂɑŋ] ㄕㄤ shang she she [ʂɯ̯ʌ] ㄕㄜ she shei shei [ʂeɪ̯] ㄕㄟ shei shen shen [ʂən] ㄕㄣ shen sheng sheng [ʂəŋ] ㄕㄥ sheng shou shou [ʂɤʊ̯] ㄕㄡ shou shi shi [ʂʅ] ㄕ shih shu shu [ʂu] ㄕㄨ shu shua shua [ʂu̯ɑ] ㄕㄨㄚ shua shuai shuai [ʂu̯aɪ̯] ㄕㄨㄞ shuai shui shui [ʂu̯eɪ̯] ㄕㄨㄟ shui shuo shuo [ʂu̯ɔ] ㄕㄨㄛ sho shuan shuan [ʂu̯an] ㄕㄨㄢ shuan shuang shuang [ʂu̯ɑŋ] ㄕㄨㄤ shuang shun shun [ʂu̯ən] ㄕㄨㄣ shun sh- r- rao rao [ʐɑʊ̯] ㄖㄠ jao ran ran [ʐan] ㄖㄢ jan rang rang [ʐɑŋ] ㄖㄤ jang re re [ʐɯ̯ʌ] ㄖㄜ je ren ren [ʐən] ㄖㄣ jen reng reng [ʐəŋ] ㄖㄥ jeng rou rou [ʐɤʊ̯] ㄖㄡ jou rong rong [ʐʊŋ] ㄖㄨㄥ jung ri ri [ʐʅ] ㄖ jih ru ru [ʐu] ㄖㄨ ju rua rua [ʐu̯ɑ] ㄖㄨㄚ jua rui rui [ʐu̯eɪ̯] ㄖㄨㄟ jui ruo ruo [ʐu̯ɔ] ㄖㄨㄛ jo ruan ruan [ʐu̯an] ㄖㄨㄢ juan run run [ʐu̯ən] ㄖㄨㄣ jun r- -a- -a -ai -ao -an -ang -e- -e -ei -en -eng -er -o- -o -ou -ong -i- -i -i* -ia -iao -ie -iou -ian -iang -in -ing -iong -u- -u -ua -uai -uei -uo -uan -uang -uen -ueng -ü-

Keep going! The exciting "r" sound is next.

Sources and further reading



