The "a" vowel

The first vowel you want to learn in pinyin is "a." It can combine with all of those easy sounds you already learned in part 1 of this guide, so it's a great place to start.

Pinyin's Main "a" Vowel Sound

Although the "a" sound in Chinese can vary a little bit, and is slightly changed when followed by a "-n" or a "-ng" sound, it should sound more or less consistent in the syllables introduced in this section. Remember that you can click on the sounds in the chart fragment to hear audio.

• -a sounds like the "a" sound in the English words "ah" or "ha" or "father".
• -ai sounds like the "ai" in the English words "Thai" and "aisle".
• -ao sounds pretty much like the word "Tao"/"Dao" which we've imported into English from Chinese, or the "ow" in the English word "how", but with a rather muted “w” sound at the end.
• -an sounds similar to “on” (minus a strong “aw” sound like in “lawn”) but you may also hear a hint of the vowel sound in the English word “can”. This sound doesn't match up to English sounds perfectly, but it's not hard to approximate.
• -ang sounds similar to the "ong" sound in the word "King Kong". Because you have the nasalized "-ng" ending, the "a" vowel changes slightly, but that's not something you should have to worry about too much.

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-	-o-	-i-	-u-	-ü-
b-		ba ba [pɑ] ㄅㄚ pa	bai bai [paɪ̯] ㄅㄞ pai	bao bao [pɑʊ̯] ㄅㄠ pao	ban ban [pan] ㄅㄢ pan	bang bang [pɑŋ] ㄅㄤ pang						b-
p-		pa pa [pʰɑ] ㄆㄚ p'a	pai pai [pʰaɪ̯] ㄆㄞ p'ai	pao pao [pʰɑʊ̯] ㄆㄠ p'ao	pan pan [pʰan] ㄆㄢ p'an	pang pang [pʰɑŋ] ㄆㄤ p'ang						p-
m-		ma ma [mɑ] ㄇㄚ ma	mai mai [maɪ̯] ㄇㄞ mai	mao mao [mɑʊ̯] ㄇㄠ mao	man man [man] ㄇㄢ man	mang mang [mɑŋ] ㄇㄤ mang						m-
f-		fa fa [fɑ] ㄈㄚ fa			fan fan [fan] ㄈㄢ fan	fang fang [fɑŋ] ㄈㄤ fang						f-
d-		da da [tɑ] ㄉㄚ ta	dai dai [taɪ̯] ㄉㄞ tai	dao dao [tɑʊ̯] ㄉㄠ tao	dan dan [tan] ㄉㄢ tan	dang dang [tɑŋ] ㄉㄤ tang						d-
t-		ta ta [tʰɑ] ㄊㄚ t'a	tai tai [tʰaɪ̯] ㄊㄞ t'ai	tao tao [tʰɑʊ̯] ㄊㄠ t'ao	tan tan [tʰan] ㄊㄢ t'an	tang tang [tʰɑŋ] ㄊㄤ t'ang						t-
n-		na na [nɑ] ㄋㄚ na	nai nai [naɪ̯] ㄋㄞ nai	nao nao [nɑʊ̯] ㄋㄠ nao	nan nan [nan] ㄋㄢ nan	nang nang [nɑŋ] ㄋㄤ nang						n-
l-		la la [lɑ] ㄌㄚ la	lai lai [laɪ̯] ㄌㄞ lai	lao lao [lɑʊ̯] ㄌㄠ lao	lan lan [lan] ㄌㄢ lan	lang lang [lɑŋ] ㄌㄤ lang						l-
z-		za za [tsɑ] ㄗㄚ tsa	zai zai [tsaɪ̯] ㄗㄞ tsai	zao zao [tsɑʊ̯] ㄗㄠ tsao	zan zan [tsan] ㄗㄢ tsan	zang zang [tsɑŋ] ㄗㄤ tsang						z-
c-		ca ca [tsʰɑ] ㄘㄚ ts'a	cai cai [tsʰaɪ̯] ㄘㄞ ts'ai	cao cao [tsʰɑʊ̯] ㄘㄠ ts'ao	can can [tsʰan] ㄘㄢ ts'an	cang cang [tsʰɑŋ] ㄘㄤ ts'ang						c-
s-		sa sa [sɑ] ㄙㄚ sa	sai sai [saɪ̯] ㄙㄞ sai	sao sao [sɑʊ̯] ㄙㄠ sao	san san [san] ㄙㄢ san	sang sang [sɑŋ] ㄙㄤ sang						s-
g-		ga ga [kɑ] ㄍㄚ ka	gai gai [kaɪ̯] ㄍㄞ kai	gao gao [kɑʊ̯] ㄍㄠ kao	gan gan [kan] ㄍㄢ kan	gang gang [kɑŋ] ㄍㄤ kang						g-
k-		ka ka [kʰɑ] ㄎㄚ k'a	kai kai [kʰaɪ̯] ㄎㄞ k'ai	kao kao [kʰɑʊ̯] ㄎㄠ k'ao	kan kan [kʰan] ㄎㄢ k'an	kang kang [kʰɑŋ] ㄎㄤ k'ang						k-
h-		ha ha [xɑ] ㄏㄚ ha	hai hai [xaɪ̯] ㄏㄞ hai	hao hao [xɑʊ̯] ㄏㄠ hao	han han [xan] ㄏㄢ han	hang hang [xɑŋ] ㄏㄤ hang						h-
	-a-	-a	-ai	-ao	-an	-ang	-e-	-o-	-i-	-u-	-ü-

Pinyin's Alternate "a" Vowel Sounds

The letter "a" in pinyin can actually make different sounds as well, when it is part of the "-ian" and "-üan" finals. Those sounds will be covered in later sections of this guide.

For now, let's move on to the "e" vowel.

Sources and further reading

• Sinosplice: Chinese Pronunciation
• ChinesePod: A with Easy Consonants

A1 pronunciation points