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Many sounds in Chinese do not have English equivalents, so any attempt to use English spelling will be approximate.

Initials

The following table explains the initials in terms of IPA and English pronunciation.


Table 1. Initials with English Pronunciation

Finals

Finals are the second part of a spoken Chinese sound. For a given word in Pinyin, the final is derived by taking away the initial first consonant (or combination of consonants in the case of zh, ch, and sh). The letters "y" and "w" are connected to the finals and should not be taken away. If the initial consonant is "j," "q," "x," or "y," and if the final starts with or is "u," then the "u" becomes "ü."

Table 6: Finals in English Pronunciation