pronouncekit

FINAL

e: unrounded back vowel

Pinyin e is not English e. Learn the unrounded mid-back vowel in hē, kě and the particle de.

e
Broad IPA
[ɤ]

Mouth & tongue

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Vocal folds: vibrating

TongueTeethUvula

Simplified human pronunciation. The small uvula hangs from the palate; it is not the vocal folds. The wave indicates voicing.

Sound to demonstrate
Tone

High and level, around 55 on the five-level pitch scale.

Voice settings

The mouth starts slightly open. Movement is slowed for observation; the synthetic sound plays once at its original speed. Pause holds the current mouth shape; reset returns to the relaxed position. The panda is a symbolic teaching aid for human pronunciation, not animal anatomy. A simplified teaching model, not a measured or anatomically validated simulation. It shows the soft palate lowering for nasal sounds, but not airflow. Single syllables use eSpeak NG, a synthetic voice on your device. Its pitch range is narrower than natural speech, so use the tone diagrams and word buttons as well. Words and sentences use a voice from your browser or device when one is available. No native recordings are bundled.

Words to practice

Sentence to practice

Listen and compare

Keep the tongue back and only change the lips.

Pinyin here shows dictionary tones. Spoken tones change in some contexts, such as nǐ hǎo; see the lessons on tone changes.

What you are learning

This is one of the most misread letters in pinyin. In this plain final it has nothing to do with the vowel in English bed.

What your mouth is doing

The tongue sits mid and back, as for a rounded o, but the lips stay spread or neutral. Many speakers move slightly during the vowel.

Compared with English

English has no direct match. Try saying the o of English “or” without rounding your lips, or the u in British “nurse” further back. Unstressed de and le are much shorter and weaker.

Build the sound, step by step

  1. Round your lips and say o.
  2. Keep your tongue still and unround your lips.
  3. Say è, hē and kě with that shape.

What to watch for

  • Reading it as the e of bed makes hē sound like “heh”. Move the tongue back.
  • Rounding the lips turns it into o.

Related lessons

Keep practicing

References & editorial notes

PronounceKit wrote this lesson as practical guidance for English speakers, based on the references below. The comparisons are editorial teaching suggestions. It describes common Mainland Standard Mandarin patterns, not every accent or regional variety, and it has not been independently reviewed by a pronunciation specialist or Mandarin teacher.

Published 5 November 2026