LingoDrop
Chinese · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "海边" in Chinese?
hai-BYEN: a low sagging first syllable with a scraped h, then a high level second with a tight "eh".
hǎibiān
Low first, then a plateau, with no conversion since biān is level. Note that 边 keeps its full first tone here, unlike in 左边 and 右边 where it goes toneless as a direction suffix. The same character, two behaviours, decided by whether it is forming a place noun or a locative.
Listen: 海边
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Sound it out
Hear it in a sentence
我们下午在海边玩。
Wǒmen xiàwǔ zài hǎibiān wán.
We're spending the afternoon at the beach.
Listen: 我们下午在海边玩。
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我们下午在海边玩。 protects wǒ with the toneless men, so it keeps its dip. Then xià plunges, wǔ dips, zài plunges, hǎi dips, biān holds level, wán climbs. Note wǔ keeps its own dip because zài falls — three unchanged dipping tones in one sentence.
Where English speakers slip
The h disappears for many learners, leaving "eye". Add friction at the back of the mouth. The -ian final opens out to "byahn" when it should be a tight "eh", and aspirating the b gives piān. And learners often reduce biān to a toneless suffix by analogy with 左边 — here it carries a full level tone.