Chinese Pinyin Initials — The 21 Initial Consonants

In Mandarin Chinese, a syllable consists of an optional initial (the opening consonant), a final (the vowel nucleus), and a tone. There are exactly 21 valid initials in standard pinyin — every Mandarin syllable either begins with one of these consonants, or begins directly with a vowel (called a “zero-initial” syllable).

The 21 initials are grouped below by their place of articulation — where in your mouth the sound is made. This grouping makes it much easier to hear and reproduce the differences, especially between the three sets that share similar sounds: zh/ch/sh (retroflex), j/q/x (palatal), and z/c/s (sibilant).

Note on y and w:You will see y and w in many pinyin spellings, but they are nottrue initials. They are medials or glides used to mark zero-initial syllables beginning with “i” (yi, ying, yan…) or “u” (wu, wan, wei…). This prevents ambiguity in syllable boundaries within words.

Labials

Sounds formed primarily with the lips

Initial	IPA	English Approximation	Example
b	/p/	like English 'b' but unaspirated — closer to 'p' in 'spin'	爸bà father
p	/pʰ/	like English 'p' with a strong puff of air (aspirated)	婆pó grandmother
m	/m/	exactly like English 'm' in 'mother'	妈māo cat (māo)
f	/f/	exactly like English 'f' in 'father'	飞fēi fly

Dentals / Alveolars

Sounds formed with the tongue near the upper teeth or alveolar ridge

Initial	IPA	English Approximation	Example
d	/t/	like English 'd' but unaspirated — closer to 't' in 'stop'	大dà big
t	/tʰ/	like English 't' with strong aspiration, as in 'top'	他tā he/him
n	/n/	exactly like English 'n' in 'name'	你nǐ you
l	/l/	exactly like English 'l' in 'love'	来lái come

Velars

Sounds formed with the back of the tongue against the soft palate

Initial	IPA	English Approximation	Example
g	/k/	like English 'g' but unaspirated — closer to 'k' in 'skill'	国guó country
k	/kʰ/	like English 'k' with strong aspiration, as in 'key'	看kàn look, watch
h	/x/	like Scottish 'ch' in 'loch' — a rough, breathy 'h'	好hǎo good

Palatals

Sounds formed with the blade of the tongue against the hard palate — only combine with i and ü

Initial	IPA	English Approximation	Example
j	/tɕ/	like 'j' in 'jeep' but without rounding lips	家jiā home, family
q	/tɕʰ/	like 'ch' in 'cheese' with a strong puff of air	七qī seven
x	/ɕ/	like 'sh' in 'she' but with tongue further forward	学xué study, learn

Retroflexes

Sounds formed with the tongue curled back (retroflex) — the distinctive 'r-coloured' sounds of Mandarin

Initial	IPA	English Approximation	Example
zh	/ʈʂ/	like 'j' in 'jump' with tongue curled back — unaspirated	中zhōng middle, China
ch	/ʈʂʰ/	like 'ch' in 'church' with tongue curled back — aspirated	吃chī eat
sh	/ʂ/	like 'sh' in 'shoe' with tongue curled back	是shì is, are, am
r	/ɻ/	no English equivalent — like 'r' in 'run' with tongue curled back and lips relaxed	人rén person, people

Sibilants (Alveolar Affricates)

Sounds formed with the tongue at the alveolar ridge — similar to retroflexes but without tongue curling

Initial	IPA	English Approximation	Example
z	/ts/	like 'ds' in 'adds' — a buzzing 'dz' sound, unaspirated	字zì character, word
c	/tsʰ/	like 'ts' in 'cats' with strong aspiration	菜cài vegetable, dish
s	/s/	exactly like English 's' in 'sun'	三sān three

The Aspiration Pairs: b/p, d/t, g/k, z/c, zh/ch, j/q

The most important concept in Mandarin initials is aspiration— the puff of air released after certain consonants. In English, both “p” in pin (aspirated) and the “p” in spin(unaspirated) exist, but they never change a word's meaning. In Mandarin, they are completely distinct:

b, d, g, z, zh, j — unaspirated (no air puff)
p, t, k, c, ch, q — aspirated (clear air puff)

Hold a piece of paper in front of your mouth: aspirated consonants make it move, unaspirated ones do not. This distinction is one of the first things to train your ear — and your mouth.

Related Pinyin Pages

Initials Finals Tones Spelling Rules Writing Rules Pinyin Chart