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 -ai -ao -an -ang
b-
ba
bai
bao
ban
bang
b-
p-
pa
pai
pao
pan
pang
p-
m-
ma
mai
mao
man
mang
m-
f-
fa
fan
fang
f-
d-
da
dai
dao
dan
dang
d-
t-
ta
tai
tao
tan
tang
t-
n-
na
nai
nao
nan
nang
n-
l-
la
lai
lao
lan
lang
l-
z-
za
zai
zao
zan
zang
z-
c-
ca
cai
cao
can
cang
c-
s-
sa
sai
sao
san
sang
s-
g-
ga
gai
gao
gan
gang
g-
k-
ka
kai
kao
kan
kang
k-
h-
ha
hai
hao
han
hang
h-
-a -ai -ao -an -ang

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