pronouncekit

FINAL

ou: mid back diphthong

Pinyin ou sounds like English oh, as in dōu and zǒu. Practice the rounded glide and keep it apart from ao and uo.

ou
Broad IPA
[ou̯]

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

Mid rounded start for the first word, open start for the second.

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 the final that sounds like the English word “oh”, even though ao looks more like it.

What your mouth is doing

The tongue starts mid and back with the lips rounded, then rises as the lips tighten slightly.

Compared with English

American English go is a close model. Southern British go starts more centrally, so if that is your accent, begin further back with rounded lips.

Build the sound, step by step

  1. Say go and drop the g.
  2. Keep the start rounded and back.
  3. Say dōu, zǒu and hòu.

What to watch for

  • Reading it as ow in “out” follows English spelling and turns it into ao.
  • Reading it as “you” or “soup” ignores the glide.

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