Tough sounds -e

The Mandarin "e" sound, although not entirely alien to English speakers, does take some practice to get right consistently. Practice the following words and phrases to be sure that you've got a good handle on these tough sounds.

Pronunciation Tips for -e (A2)

This vowel sound feels a little weird for most learners at first. Remember:

The main sound that pinyin "e" makes is a rather unexpected "uh" sound, totally different from both the short "e" sound in "pen" in English, and the long "e" sound in "see".

"-e" sounds kind of like the English "duh" or "uhhh" sound (like someone thinking, or getting punched in the stomach).

Tough Sound Words: -e (A2)

The words in the following table are designed to give you a good pronunciation workout. Practice them on your own and practice them with your teacher.

Audio	Chinese	Pinyin	English
e4	饿	è	to be hungry; hungry
re4	热	rè	hot
zhe4	这	zhè	this, these
ge4	个	gè	[measure word for people and general use]
he1	喝	hē	to drink
de	的	de	[structural particle for describing nouns]
che1	车	chē	car, vehicle
ke3le4	可乐	kělè	cola
ke3shi4	可是	kěshì	but
ce4suo3	厕所	cèsuǒ	toilet, restroom

Sources and further reading

A2 pronunciation points