Chinese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "年轻" in Chinese?

Q: How do you pronounce 年轻 in Chinese?

年轻 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /njɛn˧˥.tɕʰiŋ˥/. It means “young.” nyen-CHING, a rising first syllable then a high level second with a strong puff of air. Note the front n at the end of one syllable and the back nasal at the end of the other.

nyen-CHING, a rising first syllable then a high level second with a strong puff of air. Note the front n at the end of one syllable and the back nasal at the end of the other.

年轻 /njɛn˧˥.tɕʰiŋ˥/

niánqīng

Rising into level, with no sandhi. The word is a good demonstration of the nasal contrast working inside a single compound: the first syllable ends with the tongue tip at the ridge, the second with the back of the tongue against the soft palate. If the two endings sound the same to you, one of them is wrong.

Listen: 年轻

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Sound it out

nián An n onto the -ian final, which is closer to "yen" than "yahn" despite the spelling: a quick "ee" glide, a tight "eh", and a front n. The pitch climbs from mid to high.

qīng Aspirated palatal q with a real gust of breath, onto an "ee" closed at the back of the mouth by ng. Held high and flat, so the word ends on a plateau.

Hear it in a sentence

他还很年轻。

Tā hái hěn niánqīng.

He's still young.

Listen: 他还很年轻。

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他还很年轻。 puts hěn before nián, and since nián is rising, hěn keeps its full dip. So the sentence goes level, rising, dipping, rising, level — an alternation that never repeats the same tone twice in a row. Getting hái and nián to sound like the same rising shape, despite their very different vowels, is a good test of tonal control.

Where English speakers slip

The -ian final is the standard casualty, with learners producing "nee-AHN" in two beats with an open vowel. It is one beat and the vowel is a tight "eh". The q is the other issue: under-aspirated it becomes jīng, and pronounced with English "ch" it is made too far back with rounded lips. Spread the lips and push the air.