Chinese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "出租车" in Chinese?

Q: How do you pronounce 出租车 in Chinese?

出租车 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ʈʂʰu˥.tsu˥.ʈʂʰɤ˥/. It means “taxi.” choo-dzoo-CHUH: three high level syllables in a row, with no pitch movement anywhere in the word.

choo-dzoo-CHUH: three high level syllables in a row, with no pitch movement anywhere in the word.

出租车 /ʈʂʰu˥.tsu˥.ʈʂʰɤ˥/

chūzūchē

Three consecutive level tones, which is unusual and demanding: the pitch has to stay pinned at the top for three full syllables without the slightest decline. English intonation drifts downward across any phrase, so this word requires actively resisting a habit rather than learning a new movement.

Listen: 出租车

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Sound it out

chū Tongue curled back, and the release carries breath: curled tip, hollow release, a real gust of breath, onto a tightly rounded "oo".

zū Now the tongue tip goes forward to the teeth for a "ds" release with no breath at all, onto the same rounded "oo". The contrast with the previous syllable is both in tongue position and in aspiration.

chē Back to the retroflex with a puff of air, this time onto the back unrounded e. The lips must un-round completely after two rounded vowels.

Hear it in a sentence

我坐出租车去机场。

Wǒ zuò chūzūchē qù jīchǎng.

I'll take a taxi to the airport.

Listen: 我坐出租车去机场。

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我坐出租车去机场。 keeps wǒ at a full dip because zuò falls. Then zuò plunges, three level syllables follow, qù plunges again, and jīchǎng gives a level and a dip. That three-syllable plateau sandwiched between two drops is the sentence's spine, and letting it sag is what makes it sound wrong.

Where English speakers slip

The zh-versus-z distinction is the technical heart of this word: chū and zū differ in tongue position and in aspiration at once, and learners routinely produce the same sound for both. Say them as a minimal pair first. Then there is the three-level-tone plateau, which almost every English speaker turns into a gentle downhill slope.