Chinese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "生病" in Chinese?

Q: How do you pronounce 生病 in Chinese?

生病 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ʂɤŋ˥.piŋ˥˩/. It means “to fall ill / to get sick.” shung-BING: a high level first syllable with the tongue curled back, then a hard-falling second with no puff of air.

shung-BING: a high level first syllable with the tongue curled back, then a hard-falling second with no puff of air.

生病 /ʂɤŋ˥.piŋ˥˩/

shēngbìng

One sustained beat, then a plunge, with no sandhi. Both syllables close at the back of the mouth, so there is no nasal contrast here — the whole difference is carried by the vowel, retracted in the first and high front in the second, and by the tone.

Listen: 生病

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Sound it out

shēng Curl the tip up and back for the sh, onto a mid back unrounded vowel sealed at the back of the mouth by ng. Held at the top of the range.

bìng The lips come together and open again, breath held, onto an "ee" also sealed at the back by ng. The pitch plunges from the plateau to the floor.

Hear it in a sentence

我生病了，要看医生。

Wǒ shēngbìng le, yào kàn yīshēng.

I'm sick, I need to see a doctor.

Listen: 我生病了，要看医生。

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我生病了，要看医生。 keeps wǒ at a full dip because shēng is level. Then bìng plunges, le fades, yào and kàn both plunge, and yīshēng closes on two level syllables. Note the character 生 appears twice, level both times — once inside this word and once in 医生.

Where English speakers slip

A puff at the lips produces gives pìng. Keep the release silent. The retroflex in shēng flattens into an English "sh", and both -eng and -ing endings drift forward to front nasals, which turns the word into shēn-bìn. Feel that the tongue tip stays down and the closure happens at the back for both syllables.