Hi, ni hao! Nice to meet you here! I believe you clicked into this page because you have already learned what Pinyin is, as well as its two important components, the tones and the initials. Now, welcome to another important part of Pinyin, the finals.
After learning this part, combined with the initials and tones, you can read any Chinese word by Pinyin.
Do you feel excited? Then let's get started straight away!
First Group – Simple Finals: a, o, e, i, u, ü
The six Simple finals: a, o, e, i, u, ü are the most fundamental vowels of Chinese Pinyin. For most beginners, these are probably the very first Pinyin lesson that you learned.
In fact, these Pinyin syllables are also the very first lesson for most Chinese native speakers to learn Chinese in primary school. It’s very easy!
Finals | Used in Pinyin | Characters | Meanings | As in English words |
|---|---|---|---|---|
a | tā | 他 | he | like “a” in “father” |
o | wǒ | 我 | I | like “o” in “or” |
e | chē | 车 | car | like "ir" in “dirty” |
i | lǐ | 里 | inside | like “i” in “in” |
u | cū | 粗 | thick | like “u” in “blue” |
ü | qù | 去 | go | no equivalent in English. like “u” in “lune” (French pronunciation) |
Second Group – Compound Finals: ai, ei, ao, ou, iu, ui, ie, üe, er
In Chinese Pinyin system, there are nine compound finals, which are composed of simple vowels. Don’t worry, we will give you some similar pronunciation in English to help you master these finals.
Compound Finals | Used in Pinyin | Characters | Meanings | As in English words |
|---|---|---|---|---|
ai | ài | 爱 | v. love | like “y” in “by” |
ei | měi | 美 | adj. beautiful | like “ei” in “eight” |
ao | ào | 傲 | adj. proud | like “ow” in “cow” |
ou | ōu | 鸥 | n. sea mew | like “oa” in “coat” |
iu | niú | 牛 | n. cow, ox | like English letter “u” |
ui | duì | 对 | adj. correct | Start the sound from “u” and slightly make the “ei” sound |
ie | xiè | 谢 | v. thank | like “ye” in “yes” |
üe | yuè | 月 | n. moon | no equivalent in English, like “u” in “lune” (French pronunciation) plus “e” in “pet” |
er | ěr | 耳 | n. ears | like “er” in “sister” (American pronunciation) |
Third Group – Front Nasal Finals: an, en, in, un, ün
The nasal final is a final that the simple finals composed with the nasal consonant -n or -ng. The finals ending with -n are called the front nasal final, and the finals ending with -ng is called the back nasal final. Let’s start with the front nasal finals first.
First pronounce the single vowel, a, e, i, u or ü, then you’re your tongue to the back of the upper teeth to make the “n” sound.
Front Nasal Finals | Used in Pinyin | Characters | Meanings | As in English words |
|---|---|---|---|---|
an | lǎn | 懒 | adj. lazy | like “an” in “land” |
en | mén | 门 | n. door | like “en” in “stolen” |
in | xīn | 心 | n. heart | like “in” |
un | kùn | 困 | adj. sleepy | like “oon” in “moon” |
ün | yún | 云 | n. cloud | no equivalent in English, like “u” in “lune” (French pronunciation) plus “n” in “stolen” |
Fourth Group – Back Nasal Finals: ang, eng, ing, ung
As we mentioned before, the finals ending with -ng is called the back nasal final. To pronounce them you also need to start from the simple vowels, then move your tongue backwards, and let the air out through your nose. The “ng” sound is similar to the “ng” sound in English word “Song”.
Back Nasal Finals | Used in Pinyin | Characters | Meanings | As in English words |
|---|---|---|---|---|
ang | bàng | 棒 | adj. great | like “ang” in “angry” |
eng | lěng | 冷 | adj. cold | like “en” in “stolen” plus “ng” in “song” |
ing | xíng | 零 | num. zero | like “ing” in “spring” |
ong | tòng | 痛 | adj. hurt | like “or” in “worn” plus “ng” in “long” |
Fifth Group – triplet: ia, iao, ian, iang, iong, ua, uai, uan, uang, uo, üan
This group of syllables is not included in the official final table because they are composed of two finals.
Triplet means that there is also a mediator between the initial and the final, forming a syllable with three Pinyin components.
For the final parts, there are two finals, one is the mediator, and there are 3 simple finals that could be mediators: i, u, and ü, and can be put in front of vowel a or o. The second final could be any one of the following: simple final, compound final or nasal final.
For example, i in the middle of jia is the mediator, u is the mediator for syllable huang. and mediator should be read lightly and short.
Triplet | Used in Pinyin | Characters | Meanings | As in English words |
|---|---|---|---|---|
ia | jiā | 家 | n. home | like "ya" in "yard" |
iao | piào | 票 | n. ticket | like "i" in "in" plus "ow" in "cow" |
ian | tiān | 天 | n. sky, day | like “i” in “in” plus “an” in “land” |
iang | xiǎnɡ | 想 | v. think | like “i” in “in” plus “ang” in “angry” |
iong | bear | 熊 | n. bear | like “i” in “in” plus “or” in “worn” plus “ng” in “long” |
ua | huā | 花 | n. flower | like "wa" in "waft" |
uai | kuài | 快 | adj. fast | like "why" |
uan | ɡuān | 关 | v. close | like "wan" in "swan" |
uang | huánɡ | 黄 | n &adj. yellow | like “u” in “blue” plus “ang” in “angry” |
uo | guó | 国 | n. nation | like "wa" in “walk” |
üan | yuǎn | 远 | adj. far | no equivalent in English. like “u” in “lune” (French pronunciation) plus “an” in “land” |
A Few Extras
The Position of Tone Mark
We have learned before that Pinyin tone marks should be marked on the finals. But, when encountering a compound final, how should we mark the tone mark?
Again, please don't forget to remove the two dots on “i” and “ü” when you mark the syllables.
Zero Initials
The following finals: a, ai, an, ang, ao, e, ei, en, eng, er, o, ou, can directly constitute a complete syllable. Don't be confused when you see this situation.
And as we mentioned in Initials part, for finals that start with “i ” and “ü ” you should put “y” before the final, and for finals that start with “u”, you should put “w” before the final.
Exercise
Could you try your best to read these Pinyin syllable? It helps you practice and understand initials, finals and tones.
zǔ guó | yùn shū | liáo tiān |
祖国 | 运输 | 聊天 |
home country | n &v. transport | n &v. talk |
shǒu jī | xīn qíng | dà mǐ |
手机 | 心情 | 大米 |
n. smart phone | n. mood | n. rice |
shān mài | shù liàng | hé shuǐ |
山脉 | 数量 | 河水 |
n. mountain | n. quantity | n. river |
děng dài | tiān qì | qīng chūn |
等待 | 天气 | 青春 |
v. wait n. waiting | n. weather | n. youth |
sheng huó | nǚ rén | xiāng xìn |
生活 | 女人 | 相信 |
n. life | n. woman | n &v. trust |
Keep Practicing. . .
So, we have learned everything about Finals today. After this lesson, I believe you are able to spell all the Chinese Pinyin syllables. You can try to practice these Pinyin in the exercise above.
The more you speak, the more opportunity you’ll get to practice them and the more perfect your Chinese will be! If you know any native Chinese-speakers, try and practice what you’ve learned with them.
Good luck and have fun!
