Chinese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "生气" in Chinese?

Q: How do you pronounce 生气 in Chinese?

生气 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ʂɤŋ˥.tɕʰi˥˩/. It means “angry / to get angry.” shung-CHEE: a high level first syllable with the tongue curled back, then a hard-falling second with a strong puff of air.

shung-CHEE: a high level first syllable with the tongue curled back, then a hard-falling second with a strong puff of air.

生气 /ʂɤŋ˥.tɕʰi˥˩/

shēngqì

A plateau then a plunge, with no sandhi. The two initials could hardly be further apart despite both being hisses: one is retroflex with the tongue curled back and the lips neutral, the other palatal with the tongue forward and the lips spread. Producing them identically is what makes the word sound blurred.

Listen: 生气

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Sound it out

shēng A retroflex hiss, tip raised and drawn back, onto a mid back unrounded vowel sealed at the back of the mouth by ng. Held at the top of the range.

qì The tongue's blade spreads against the hard palate and releases with a real gust of breath, onto a tense spread "ee". The pitch plunges to the floor.

Hear it in a sentence

别生气！

Bié shēngqì!

Don't be angry!

Listen: 别生气！

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别生气！ is only three syllables but covers three tones: bié climbs, shēng holds level, qì plunges. Up, along, down. English delivers prohibitions with falling intonation across the whole phrase, so learners tend to start high on bié and slide downward — losing the rise entirely.

Where English speakers slip

Without a real puff, the q gives jì. Push the air. The retroflex in shēng flattens into an English "sh", and the -eng vowel gets fronted to an English "eng" when the tongue should be pulled back. And the rise on bié in the example sentence is the single most commonly flattened tone in Mandarin imperatives.