a啊ā
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Like "a" in "father" — shorter, with the mouth wide open (ā).
Chinese Finals 韵母
Finals are the vowel part of a syllable — and Mandarin has far more of them than English. The 35 finals of the official table are grouped below by mouth shape (the traditional "four calls"), followed by the special buzzing -i and the rhotic er. Each card plays its anchor character at normal and slow speed.
Simple finals
a o e i u üThe six pure vowels. Keep the mouth shape steady from start to end — no glide, no diphthong.
o喔ō
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A rounded "o" in the "aw" zone — the jaw stays, the lips round (ō). Never read it as "wo": 窝 wō is the uo final.
e鹅é
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Like "u" in "duh", but with relaxed, unrounded lips — no exact English match (é).
i衣yī
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Like "ee" in "see" — shorter and tenser, written as y at the start of a syllable (yī).
u乌wū
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Like "oo" in "boot" with tight, pushed-out lips; written as w at the start of a syllable (wū).
ü迂yū
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Say "ee" and hold it, then round your lips — German "ü". Written with two dots only after n/l (nǚ), as yu after y/j/q/x (yū).
Open-mouth finals
ai ei ao ou an en ang eng ongFinals that open the mouth directly — no i/u/ü glide before the vowel. The -ng endings are nasal and deeper than the -n endings.
ai哀āi
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Like "ai" in "Thai" (āi).
ei诶ēi
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Like "ei" in "eight" (ēi).
ao凹āo
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Like "ow" in "cow" (āo).
ou欧ōu
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Like "oa" in "boat" (ōu).
an安ān
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Like "an" in "man", with the tongue pulled slightly back (ān).
en恩ēn
Like "un" in "under" — short and nasal (ēn).
ang肮āng
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Like "ong" in "song" but with the mouth wider open (āng). The character is uncommon; the sound is not.
eng鞥ēng
Like "ung" in "sung" (ēng). The character is very rare — listen for the sound, not the character.
ong轰hōng
Like "ong" in "song" but starting from a u position. It cannot stand alone: listen to 轰 hōng and ignore the h.
i-group finals
ia ie iao iu ian in iang ing iongStart with a quick, light "y" glide from the i position, then open into the main vowel.
ia呀yā
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Like "ya" in "yard" (yā).
ie耶yē
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Like "ye" in "yes" (yē).
iao腰yāo
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Like "yow" in "yowl" (yāo).
iu优yōu
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Like "yo" in "yoga" — really i + ou squeezed together, so the o is light (yōu).
ian烟yān
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Like "yen" with a lighter first part (yān).
in因yīn
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Like "in" in "bin" (yīn).
iang央yāng
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Like "young", but with a clear, quick "ee" before the ang (yāng).
ing英yīng
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Like "ing" in "sing" (yīng).
iong雍yōng
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Say "ee" then "ong" quickly, in one motion (yōng) — no English equivalent.
u-group finals
ua uo uai ui uan un uang uengStart with rounded lips (a quick "w" glide), then move to the main vowel. The glide must be quick — do not split it into two syllables.
ua挖wā
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Like "wa" in "water" (wā).
uo窝wō
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Like "wo" in "woke" — u + o in one quick glide (wō). Do not read 窝 wō as the simple final o 喔 ō.
uai歪wāi
Like "wy" in "why" (wāi).
ui威wēi
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Like "way" — really u + ei squeezed together (wēi).
uan弯wān
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Like "wan" in "wander" (wān).
un温wēn
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Like "wen" in "went" — a compressed u + en (wēn).
uang汪wāng
Like "wang" — a round "oo" gliding straight into ang (wāng).
ueng翁wēng
Like "wung" — it only appears after w, so the written form is always weng (wēng).
ü-group finals
üe üan ünBased on ü ("ee" with rounded lips). Written as ü only after n/l (nüe/lüé); after y/j/q/x the two dots are dropped: yue / yuan / yun — but the sound stays ü.
üe约yuē
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Say the rounded "ee" (ü) and glide to e in one syllable (yuē).
üan冤yuān
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Rounded "ee" (ü) + an in one motion (yuān).
ün晕yūn
Rounded "ee" (ü) + n in one motion (yūn) — do not round it in writing after y: y·un, but the sound is ü + n.
Special finals
-i · erThe "i" after zh/ch/sh/r and z/c/s is NOT the 衣 i vowel — it is a buzzing sound with the tongue held still. er is a rhotic vowel.
-i (zhi)知zhī
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After zh/ch/sh/r the final is not "ee": the tongue tip curls up and the voice buzzes through it — listen to 知 zhī.
-i (zi)资zī
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After z/c/s the final is not "ee": a buzzy vowel with the tongue tip behind the front teeth — listen to 资 zī.
er儿ér
Like "are" in "car" with an American r — a pure r-colored vowel (ér).
The ü sound, in one minute. ü is "ee" with rounded lips. It keeps its two dots only after n and l (女 nǚ, 绿 lǜ). After y, j, q, x the dots are dropped in writing but the sound stays ü: 鱼 yú, 居 jū, 去 qù, 需 xū. Full details with audio are on the spelling rules page.
Tip: if a final sounds close to English, trust the audio anyway — small differences (lip rounding, length, nasality) are what make an accent. Listen twice, then say it back.