Practise the thinking. Keep the judgement.
Pinyin initials and finals
Original Chinese study material with English explanations. Simplified Chinese with pinyin; beginner, intermediate and advanced are editorial difficulty labels.
An initial begins a syllable and a final supplies the rest. In mā, m is the initial and a the final. Common initials include b p m f; d t n l; g k h; j q x; zh ch sh r; z c s. Finals include a o e i u ü, ai ei ao ou, an en ang eng ong and combinations such as ia and uan. Some syllables have no consonant initial.
四、十
sì, shí
four; ten
女、去
nǚ, qù
woman; go
Pinyin letters do not follow English sound values. ü keeps its dots after n and l, but the dots are omitted after j, q and x. The i in si and shi is not the same sound as the i in mi. Start slowly with 四 and 十 rather than judging accuracy by speed.
Try it
What is the initial in mā?
- m
- a
- ā
Answer and explanation
m. The initial is m; a is the final and the mark indicates first tone.