pronouncekit

FINAL

ua uo uai ui uan un uang ueng: finals that start with u

Learn the u family: huā, guó, kuài, guì, wǎn, chūn, chuāng and wēng, and how pinyin hides a vowel in ui and un.

ua uo uai ui uan un uang ueng

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

Add the rounded glide on the first word only.

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

These finals start with rounded lips and a quick u glide. Written alone they begin with w: wa, wo, wai, wei, wan, wen, wang and weng.

What your mouth is doing

The lips round and the tongue starts high and back, then they move to the next target. Pinyin ui stands for u + ei and un stands for u + en, so a middle vowel is hidden by the spelling.

Compared with English

English want and water begin with a similar glide. Pinyin guì is close to English “gway” with the first part unaspirated, not “gooey”. Chūn is close to “chwun”, not “choon”.

Build the sound, step by step

  1. Say wā, wǒ and wài with quick rounding.
  2. Say guì, adding the hidden e: g-u-ei.
  3. Say chūn, adding the hidden e: ch-u-en.

What to watch for

  • Reading ui as “oo-ee” drops the middle vowel. On third and fourth tones, it is especially audible.
  • Reading un like English “moon” drops the central vowel.

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