Chinese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "担心" in Chinese?

Q: How do you pronounce 担心 in Chinese?

担心 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /tan˥.ɕin˥/. It means “worried / to worry.” dahn-SHEEN, both syllables high and flat. An unaspirated d, then the thin x hiss, and no pitch movement anywhere.

dahn-SHEEN, both syllables high and flat. An unaspirated d, then the thin x hiss, and no pitch movement anywhere.

担心 /tan˥.ɕin˥/

dānxīn

Level throughout, on both halves with no movement, and both syllables close with a front n — so there is no nasal contrast to manage, only the plateau to sustain. That makes this a clean calibration word: if the second syllable sits lower than the first, your first tone is sagging.

Listen: 担心

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Sound it out

dān Tip to the ridge, released with the breath held back, onto a broad open "ah" closed with a front n. Held at the top of the range.

xīn Smile the lips wide for the thin palatal hiss with the tip pointing down, onto a tense "ee" closed with the tongue tip at the ridge. Also level, so the word never moves.

Hear it in a sentence

我担心明天的考试。

Wǒ dānxīn míngtiān de kǎoshì.

I'm worried about tomorrow's exam.

Listen: 我担心明天的考试。

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我担心明天的考试。 keeps wǒ at a full dip because dān is level. Then dān and xīn hold high, míng climbs, tiān holds level again, de fades, kǎo dips, shì plunges. Note kǎo keeps its full descent because shì falls rather than dips.

Where English speakers slip

An audible release on the d produces gives tān. The x becomes an English "sh", pulling xīn toward shēn. And the two-syllable plateau tends to decline across its length, because English intonation always drifts downward — hold the second syllable at exactly the height of the first and then stop.