pronouncekit

INITIAL

n: tongue-tip nasal

Mandarin n appears at the start and the end of syllables. Practice the tip contact and keep it apart from l.

n
Broad IPA
[n]

Mouth & tongue

Enable JavaScript to view the 3D panda. Pronunciation steps remain available below.

Vocal folds: vibrating

TongueTeethUvula

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

Nasal: the soft palate lowers; air exits the nose

Sound to demonstrate
Tone

Falling sharply from high to low, around 51.

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

For each pair, feel air through the nose 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

Mandarin n is close to English n, and it is one of only two consonants that can end a syllable.

What your mouth is doing

The tongue tip seals on the ridge while the soft palate lowers, sending air and voice through the nose. When the 3D model is available, it shows the soft palate and uvula dropping.

Compared with English

English n in no is a close match. Some Mandarin regional speakers merge n and l; that is a feature of their accent, but learners benefit from keeping the two apart.

Build the sound, step by step

  1. Touch your tongue tip to the ridge and hum.
  2. Pinch your nose: the sound should stop, showing the air was nasal.
  3. Open into nǐ hǎo without adding a vowel before the n.

What to watch for

  • Saying l for n changes nán (male) to lán (blue), so check with the nose pinch.
  • At the end of a syllable, n is covered in the an and en lessons; do not slide back to ng.

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