Pronunciation guide of 4 Initials in Pinyin: zh, ch, sh, r
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| zh | To make the zh sound, you need to roll up the tip of your tongue against the hard palate and loosen it to let the air come out. Zh is an unaspirated consonant and the vocal cords do not vibrate. |
| ch | chandzh are pronounced in the same way but ch is aspirated. Roll up the tip of your tongue against the hard palate, and try to pronounce “ch” in the English word “cheap”, then you'll get the Mandarin sound "ch". |
| sh | To pronounce the sh sound, turn up the tip of your tongue toward but not touch the hard palate and then let the air squeeze out. An equivalent in English is the “sh” in the word “sheep”. |
| r | r is pronounced in the same way as sh, but r is voiced and the vocal cords vibrate. Another way to help you to pronounce it easily is try to pronounce the English word “her”, prolong the final sound of “her”, and you will get r r r. |
Examples of Chinese Characters Using zh ch sh r
In this part, we will learn some Pinyin that use these three initials with their Chinese characters. Please listen to the audio to differentiate these sounds, and then roll up the tip of your tongue against/toward the hard palate and repeat with the audio.
| Initials | Used in Pinyin | Characters | Meanings | As in English Words |
| zh | | 知道 | v. to know | sounds like gi in English word "giraff",
but roll up the tip of your tongue against the hard palate |
| ch | | 吃 | v. to eat | sounds like ch in English word “cheap",
but roll up the tip of your tongue against the hard palate |
| sh | | 十 | number. ten | sounds like sh in English word “sheep",
but roll up the tip of your tongue toward the hard palate |
| r | | 日本 | n. Japan | likesu in English word “pleasure",
but roll up the tip of your tongue toward the hard palate |
Pronunciation Drills of Initials: zh, ch, sh, r
Listen to the audio first, and then practice the following Pinyin with the initials zh, ch, sh, r.
« Chinese Pinyin Lesson 9 | Initials: j, q, x
Chinese Pinyin Lesson 11 | Initials: z, c, s, y, w >> »
