How to Pronounce '如果': Chinese Pronunciation Guide

Q: How do you pronounce 如果 in Chinese?

如果 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ɻu˧˥.kwo˨˩˦/. It means “if.” roo-GWOR, roughly, with a rising first syllable and a dipping second. The r is not an English r — the tongue curls back but does not round the lips.

How do you pronounce "如果" in Chinese?

roo-GWOR, roughly, with a rising first syllable and a dipping second. The r is not an English r — the tongue curls back but does not round the lips.

如果 /ɻu˧˥.kwo˨˩˦/

rúguǒ

Rising then dipping, with no sandhi — a second tone before a third leaves both untouched. The word is almost always clause-initial, and the low ending on guǒ sets up a natural pitch reset for whatever condition follows, which is part of why the construction feels so clearly signposted.

Listen: 如果

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Sound it out

rú Mandarin's r is the voiced counterpart of the retroflex sh: tongue tip curled up and back, buzzing rather than hissing. English speakers naturally round their lips for r; here the lips are neutral and the rounding belongs only to the following "oo".

guǒ Unaspirated g at the soft palate, then a glide from "oo" out toward "aw". The pitch drops to the bottom of your range across that movement, and because the vowel is long, the dip is easy to hear.

Hear it in a sentence

如果下雨，我就在家。

Rúguǒ xià yǔ, wǒ jiù zài jiā.

If it rains, I'll stay home.

Listen: 如果下雨，我就在家。

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如果下雨，我就在家。 gives the conditional clause a distinct shape: rú climbs, guǒ dips, xià falls, yǔ dips again. After the comma the main clause starts from wǒ, another third tone, and since jiù is falling, wǒ keeps its dip. So the sentence has four low or falling syllables and only one genuine rise, right at the start.

Where English speakers slip

Everything hinges on the r. Using an English r — with rounded lips and a bunched tongue — makes the syllable sound like "roo" from "room", which is close enough to be understood but immediately marks the accent. Curl the tip back and unround the lips until only the vowel is rounded. Learners also flatten guǒ to "gwo" with a level pitch, losing the dip that separates it from guò.