LingoDrop
Chinese · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "别" in Chinese?
byeh, rising from mid to high. Unaspirated b, a quick "ee" glide, and an open "eh".
bié
The upward contour holds everywhere. As a negative imperative it always heads a clause, which means it sets the starting pitch for everything after it — and because it ends high, whatever follows tends to begin from an elevated position rather than from neutral. That is part of why prohibitions in Mandarin sound brisk rather than heavy.
Listen: 别
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Sound it out
Hear it in a sentence
别忘了钥匙。
Bié wàngle yàoshi.
Don't forget your keys.
Listen: 别忘了钥匙。
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别忘了钥匙。 runs bié rising, wàng falling, le toneless, then yàoshi with a fall and a final toneless syllable. Two of the five syllables carry no tone at all. The command therefore has only two real pitch events, and giving equal weight to all five is what makes learner imperatives sound stilted.
Where English speakers slip
Add breath to the b and you have piě. And the rise is under-produced constantly, because commands in English are delivered with falling intonation — so learners say a level or falling biè, which is a different word. Fight the instinct: the prohibition climbs. The vowel is a smaller issue, with "bee-eh" in two beats instead of one.