The "ch" "sh" and "zh" sounds

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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
chī
shī
zhī

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

ch-

Ch-Diagram
  • 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-Diagram
  • 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-Diagram
  • 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.

Tone: 1 2 3 4 1234 [Show more Settings]

-a -ai -ao -an -ang -e -ei -en -eng -er -o -ou -ong -i -i* -ia -iao -ie -iou -ian -iang -in -ing -iong -u -ua -uai -uei -uo -uan -uang -uen -ueng
zh-
zha
zhai
zhao
zhan
zhang
zhe
zhei
zhen
zheng
zhou
zhong
zhi
zhu
zhua
zhuai
zhui
zhuo
zhuan
zhuang
zhun
zh-
ch-
cha
chai
chao
chan
chang
che
chen
cheng
chou
chong
chi
chu
chua
chuai
chui
chuo
chuan
chuang
chun
ch-
sh-
sha
shai
shao
shan
shang
she
shei
shen
sheng
shou
shi
shu
shua
shuai
shui
shuo
shuan
shuang
shun
sh-
r-
rao
ran
rang
re
ren
reng
rou
rong
ri
ru
rua
rui
ruo
ruan
run
r-
-a -ai -ao -an -ang -e -ei -en -eng -er -o -ou -ong -i -i* -ia -iao -ie -iou -ian -iang -in -ing -iong -u -ua -uai -uei -uo -uan -uang -uen -ueng

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

Sources and further reading