Chinese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "明天" in Chinese?

Q: How do you pronounce 明天 in Chinese?

明天 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /miŋ˧˥.tʰjɛn˥/. It means “tomorrow.” ming-TYEN: a rising first syllable with a back nasal, then a high level second with a strong puff of air.

ming-TYEN: a rising first syllable with a back nasal, then a high level second with a strong puff of air.

明天 /miŋ˧˥.tʰjɛn˥/

míngtiān

Rising into level, with no sandhi. The nasal contrast inside the word is worth noticing: míng closes at the back of the mouth and tiān closes at the front, so if both endings feel identical, one is wrong. Comparing this word directly with 今天 jīntiān is a good drill for both the nasals and the tones.

Listen: 明天

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Sound it out

míng Lips closed for m, then an "ee" sealed at the back of the mouth by ng. Many speakers slip a faint schwa in before the nasal. The voice climbs from mid to high across it.

tiān Strongly aspirated t into the -ian final — quick "ee", tight "eh", front n. Held level at the top, which is roughly where míng's climb finished.

Hear it in a sentence

明天见。

Míngtiān jiàn.

See you tomorrow.

Listen: 明天见。

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明天见。 is only three syllables but covers three tones: míng climbs, tiān holds high, jiàn plunges. The whole farewell therefore goes up, along, and down — a shape English speakers tend to compress into a single gentle rise, because that is how we say "see you tomorrow". Keep the three stages distinct.

Where English speakers slip

The rise on míng gets flattened because the syllable feels like the unstressed first half of a compound, and a level míng edges toward mīng. Make the climb audible. The nasal is the other issue: mín with a front n is a real syllable and a common surname element, and English ears will not flag the difference for you.