Chinese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "学生" in Chinese?

Q: How do you pronounce 学生 in Chinese?

学生 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ɕɥɛ˧˥.ʂɤŋ/. It means “student.” shweh-shung: a rising first syllable built on the rounded front ü, then a weak toneless second.

shweh-shung: a rising first syllable built on the rounded front ü, then a weak toneless second.

学生 /ɕɥɛ˧˥.ʂɤŋ/

xuésheng

A climb followed by a weightless tail. This is the third behaviour of 生 in the list — level in 医生, toneless here and in 先生 — so the character's tone is a property of each individual word rather than of the character itself. The two hisses also contrast sharply, one thin and forward, one dark and curled back.

Listen: 学生

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Sound it out

xué The lips pull back for a thin palatal hiss, then the -üe final: tongue high and front as for "ee" while the lips round, opening out to "eh". The voice climbs from mid to high.

sheng Toneless: the tongue curls back for a retroflex hiss, onto a mid back unrounded vowel sealed at the back. Light and short, riding at the high pitch xué finished on.

Hear it in a sentence

学生在图书馆学习。

Xuésheng zài túshūguǎn xuéxí.

The student studies in the library.

Listen: 学生在图书馆学习。

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学生在图书馆学习。 uses 学 twice with the same rising tone, once in the noun and once in the verb 学习. Between them, zài plunges, tú climbs, shū holds level, guǎn dips. Then xí climbs at the end. Four rising syllables in the sentence, each needing its own downward reset.

Where English speakers slip

The ü in xué becomes a plain w-glide for most learners, giving "shweh" in the English sense — the tongue must stay forward while the lips round. Restoring a level tone to sheng is the other error. And the two hisses get merged into a single English "sh", which erases a contrast the word puts side by side.