Pinyin Pronunciation Guide

Tones---Syllables in Mandarin Chinese have four tones which affect the meaning of words， so they are very important.

1stTone(hight level)	spoken hight and neither rises or falls
2ndTone(rising)	starts low and ends hight (like English “huh”)
3rdTone(falling-rising)	dips down and then rise
4thTone(falling)	starts hight andends low(like English”No!”)

 

Consonants and Vowels----A lot of pinyin letters are pronunced almost the same astney are in English， with the following exceptions:

i - Like “ee” in “bee”(after c， s， z， ch， sh， zh，r-like “e”       in “her”)
o - Like “aw”in “saw”	ou - like “ou”in “soul”
ian - like “yen”	ui - like “way”
ei - Like “ay”in “way”	c - like “ts”in “nuts”
q - Like “ch”in “cheap”	x - Like “sh”in “sheep”
z - like “ds”in “libs”	zh - Like “j”in “jug”
g - always like “g”in “ give”	r - like “r”with your tongue rolled  back

Useful Phrases

你好。	ni3 hao3	Hello
谢谢。	xie4 xie	Thank you
不客气。	bu2 ke4 qi	You’re welcome
…在哪里？	zai4 na3 li?	Where is…
我想…	wo3 xiang3	I’d like…
我不懂。	wo3 bu4 dong3	I don’t understand
多少钱？	duo1 shao3 qian2 ?	How much is it?
厕所在哪里？	ce4 suo3 zai4 na3 li ?	Where are the toilets?
男/女	nan2/nv3	men/women
请帮助我。	qing3 bang1 zhu4 wo3	Please， help me.
买单。	mai3 dan1	Bring me the bill.
请问…	qing3 wen4	Excuse me…
你会说英语吗？	ni3 hui4 shuo1 ying1 yu3ma?	Do you speak English?
请送我去…	qing3 song4 wo3 qu4	Please take me to…
前门/后门	qian2 men2/hou4 men2	front gate/back gate
往左/右拐	wang3 zuo3/you4 guai3	Turn left/right
停下来	ting2 xia4 lai2	Stop(the taxi)
再见！	Zai4 jian4	Good bye!

 source: http://sie.gxmu.edu.cn/file/201106/3012194896.html