Chinese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "八" in Chinese?

Q: How do you pronounce 八 in Chinese?

八 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /pa˥/. It means “eight.” bah with no puff of air and a high flat pitch. Somewhere between English "bah" and "pah" — the point is that there is no breath after the lips open.

bah with no puff of air and a high flat pitch. Somewhere between English "bah" and "pah" — the point is that there is no breath after the lips open.

八 /pa˥/

bā

The syllable's own pitch is untouchable in every environment. Its neighbours do react to it though: 一 before 八 becomes a falling yì, and 不 before it stays fourth tone since 八 is not falling.

Listen: 八

Free browser voice. Hear it read by a real native speaker inside the LingoDrop app.

Sound it out

b- Unaspirated. The lips close and release cleanly with no gust of air behind them. English b is voiced and English p is aspirated; Mandarin b is neither, which is why it can sound like both at once.

-ā A wide open "ah" as in "father", with the jaw genuinely dropped. Mandarin's a is fuller than most English a vowels.

bā (level) Pinned high and steady. With such an open vowel there is lots of room for the pitch to wobble, so keep it deliberately motionless.

Hear it in a sentence

商店八点开门。

Shāngdiàn bā diǎn kāimén.

The store opens at eight.

Listen: 商店八点开门。

Free browser voice. Hear it read by a real native speaker inside the LingoDrop app.

商店八点开门。 opens with two high or falling syllables, drops onto bā high again, then dips on diǎn before kāimén climbs. The interesting moment is bā diǎn: a level tone falling straight to a low dip with no transition, which is the fundamental rhythm of telling the time in Mandarin and worth drilling on its own.

Where English speakers slip

English speakers voice the b fully, humming through the closure, and while that will be understood it marks the accent immediately. Try starting the syllable with the lips already closed and silent. The vowel is the other half: substituting the short flat a of "bat" makes the number sound clipped, when it should be broad and open.