Chinese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "雨伞" in Chinese?

Q: How do you pronounce 雨伞 in Chinese?

雨伞 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /y˨˩˦.san˨˩˦/. It means “umbrella.” ü-SAHN — but both syllables dip in citation form, so the first converts and you say yú sǎn.

ü-SAHN — but both syllables dip in citation form, so the first converts and you say yú sǎn.

雨伞 /y˨˩˦.san˨˩˦/

yǔsǎn

A textbook conversion — two dipping tones in contact, so the first rises. What makes this one demanding is the vowel: yǔ already requires holding two unfamiliar positions at once, and now it also has to carry a tone that is not the one written. Practise the vowel first and the sandhi second.

Listen: 雨伞

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Sound it out

yǔ The rounded front ü: tongue high and forward as for "ee", lips pushed into a tight circle. Written with a dipping hook but spoken as a rise in this word.

sǎn A thin alveolar s at the teeth, then a broad open "ah" closed with the tongue tip at the ridge. This syllable keeps the low contour.

Hear it in a sentence

快下雨了，带上雨伞。

Kuài xià yǔ le, dài shàng yǔsǎn.

It's about to rain, take the umbrella.

Listen: 快下雨了，带上雨伞。

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快下雨了，带上雨伞。 contains the same character twice with different behaviour. In 下雨 the yǔ ends a clause and keeps its full dipping contour; in 雨伞 it is followed by another dipping tone and converts to a rise. Same syllable, two pronunciations, one sentence — as clear a demonstration of the rule as you could ask for.

Where English speakers slip

Replacing ü with a plain "oo" is the standard error, giving "yoo-sahn". Keep the tongue forward while the lips round. Then there is the conversion, which learners skip — producing two laboured dips. And the s is sometimes retroflexed by analogy with sh, when it should be a thin hiss with the tongue tip right at the teeth.