Chinese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "银行" in Chinese?

Q: How do you pronounce 银行 in Chinese?

银行 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /in˧˥.xɑŋ˧˥/. It means “bank.” yeen-HAHNG, both syllables rising. Note that 行 is read háng here, not xíng — the same character has two readings.

yeen-HAHNG, both syllables rising. Note that 行 is read háng here, not xíng — the same character has two readings.

银行 /in˧˥.xɑŋ˧˥/

yínháng

Two consecutive ascents in a row, needing a downward reset between them. The reading is the more important point though: 行 is xíng when it means to walk or to be acceptable, and háng when it means a row, a trade, or as here a bank. Nothing in the writing distinguishes them.

Listen: 银行

Free browser voice. Hear it read by a real native speaker inside the LingoDrop app.

Sound it out

yín A clean "ee" with no consonant in front of it written with a y, closed with the tongue tip at the ridge. The voice climbs from mid to high.

háng Audible rasp at the soft palate, then a wide open "ah" sealed at the back of the mouth. Another climb, starting below where yín finished.

Hear it in a sentence

银行几点开门？

Yínháng jǐ diǎn kāimén?

What time does the bank open?

Listen: 银行几点开门？

Free browser voice. Hear it read by a real native speaker inside the LingoDrop app.

银行几点开门？ contains a conversion: jǐ and diǎn are adjacent dipping tones, so jǐ rises. Then kāi holds level and mén climbs. The question therefore contains four rising syllables — yín, háng, jí and mén — and only one dip, which makes it an intensive second-tone workout.

Where English speakers slip

Reading 行 as xíng is the specific trap and it produces a word that means something quite different. On the sounds, the h in háng disappears for many learners, leaving "ahng" — put friction at the back of the mouth. And the front nasal on yín drifts to yíng, which is a common syllable and a different word.