LingoDrop
Chinese · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "漂亮" in Chinese?
PYAO-lyang, a hard-falling first syllable followed by a weak toneless second. The p is strongly aspirated.
piàoliang
The tone on liang has been dropped, so the word runs heavy-light rather than fall-fall. This matters because a fully-toned liàng would make the word sound like two separate adjectives being stressed for emphasis. The neutral second syllable is part of what makes the compliment sound natural.
Listen: 漂亮
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Sound it out
Hear it in a sentence
这些花很漂亮。
Zhèxiē huā hěn piàoliang.
These flowers are very pretty.
Listen: 这些花很漂亮。
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这些花很漂亮。 puts hěn immediately before piào, and since piào is a fourth tone rather than a third, hěn keeps its full dip — no sandhi. So the sentence gives a fall, a level, a dip, a fall and then the toneless tail. The pitch climbs to hold on huā, sinks on hěn, spikes and drops on piào, and expires.
Where English speakers slip
Under-aspirating the p gives biào, and English speakers reduce aspiration when a consonant is followed by a glide. Push the air out. The bigger error is restoring the tone on liang: piào liàng with two falls sounds like a textbook reading rather than a compliment. And the -iang final often loses its middle "ah", collapsing to "lyeng".