pronouncekit

FINAL

ü: high front rounded vowel

Learn Mandarin ü, a sound English does not have: the tongue of ee with the lips of oo. See why it is often spelled u.

ü
Broad IPA
[y]

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

The tongue stays forward on the first word and moves back on 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 sound does not exist in standard English. It is spelled ü after n and l, and plain u after j, q, x and y, because a true u can never follow those.

What your mouth is doing

Keep the tongue high and forward as for i, then round the lips tightly as for u. Only the lips change. The model shows this combination with the tongue of i and the lip rounding of u.

Compared with English

Say ee in see and slowly round your lips without moving your tongue. Learners who know French u or German ü already have a very close sound. English you and oo are not the same: they move the tongue back.

Build the sound, step by step

  1. Say a long yī and hold your tongue completely still.
  2. Slowly round your lips until they are tight.
  3. Say yǔ, nǚ and qù, watching your lips in a mirror.

What to watch for

  • Reading it as English oo turns lǜ (green) into lù (road).
  • Reading as “yoo”: the tongue must not slide back during the 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