Chinese Pronunciation and Pinyin Basics (Notebook Notes)

A set of vocabulary flashcards covering Pinyin structure (initials and finals), tones, and common phrases from the notes.

Pinyin

Romanization system for Standard Mandarin using initials, finals, and tone marks.

Initial

Consonant at the start of a Chinese syllable (examples include b, p, m, f, d, t, n, l, g, k, h, j, q, x, zh, ch, sh, r, z, c, s).

Final

Vowel and ending of a Chinese syllable (examples include a, o, e, i, u, ü, ai, an, ang, eng, etc.).

Tone

Pitch contour of a Mandarin syllable; four tones plus a neutral tone.

First tone (mā)

High-level tone; indicated with a macron; example syllable mā.

Second tone (má)

Rising tone; indicated with an acute accent; example syllable má.

Third tone (mǎ)

Dipping (falling-rising) tone; indicated with a caron; example syllable mǎ.

Fourth tone (mà)

Falling tone; indicated with a grave accent; example syllable mà.

Neutral tone

Light, unstressed tone; tone depends on the preceding tone and is often unmarked.

Initials (Pinyin)

Set of consonant sounds that begin syllables (e.g., b, p, m, f, d, t, n, l, g, k, h, j, q, x, zh, ch, sh, r, z, c, s).

Finals (Pinyin)

Vowels and endings that follow the initial in a syllable (e.g., a, o, e, i, u, ü, ai, ei, ao, ou, an, en, ang, eng).

xiāng jiāo (香蕉)

Banana.

nǐ hǎo (你好)

Hello.

zài jiàn (再见)

Goodbye.

qǐng wèn (请问)

Please may I ask? (used to start a question).

xiè xiè (谢谢)

Thank you.

bú kè qì (不客气)

You're welcome.

zhè shì shén me yì si (这是什么意思)

What does this mean?

zhè ge zhōng wén zěn me shuō (这个中文怎么说)

How do you say this in Chinese?

wǒ jiào (我叫)

I am called; used to introduce your name.

wǒ shì xué shēng (我是学生)

I am a student.