Chinese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "其实" in Chinese?

Q: How do you pronounce 其实 in Chinese?

其实 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /tɕʰi˧˥.ʂʐ̩˧˥/. It means “actually / in fact.” chee-SHRR, both syllables rising. An aspirated palatal then a retroflex, with two climbs that each need their own reset.

chee-SHRR, both syllables rising. An aspirated palatal then a retroflex, with two climbs that each need their own reset.

其实 /tɕʰi˧˥.ʂʐ̩˧˥/

qíshí

Two rising tones in succession, unchanged by any rule but physically demanding: after the first climb ends high, the voice must drop back down to begin the second. Native speakers do this so quickly it is inaudible as a fall, but skipping it entirely leaves the second syllable level. The word is a good drill for exactly that reset.

Listen: 其实

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Sound it out

qí Front of the tongue spread broadly against the hard palate, lips smiling, released with real breath, onto a tense "ee". The tone lifts from mid to high.

shí Now the tongue curls back for a retroflex hiss and simply buzzes in place — no vowel. Another climb, but it has to start lower than qí finished, or there is no room to ascend.

Hear it in a sentence

其实我不知道。

Qíshí wǒ bù zhīdào.

Actually, I don't know.

Listen: 其实我不知道。

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其实我不知道。 keeps 不 in its falling form, because zhī is a level first tone. Wǒ also keeps its dip, since bù falls. So the sentence runs rise, rise, dip, fall, level, fall — six syllables covering every tone in the system except a neutral one, which makes it an unusually complete drill.

Where English speakers slip

Both initials collapse together: q is made forward with spread lips and heavy aspiration, sh with the tongue curled back and no aspiration at all, and learners produce a single English "ch"/"sh" for both. Say them as a contrasting pair. The double rise is the other trap, usually flattening into one long plateau across both syllables.