How to Pronounce '张': Chinese Pronunciation Guide

Q: How do you pronounce 张 in Chinese?

张 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ʈʂɑŋ˥/. It means “(measure word for flat objects).” jahng with the tongue curled back and no puff of air, held high and level. The ending is the deep nasal of "song", not a front n.

How do you pronounce "张" in Chinese?

jahng with the tongue curled back and no puff of air, held high and level. The ending is the deep nasal of "song", not a front n.

张 /ʈʂɑŋ˥/

zhāng

Level and immovable. As a measure word it shapes its neighbours: 一 in front becomes a falling yì, and third-tone numbers before it keep their dips intact because 张 is not a third tone. It is also an extremely common surname, where the same tone and pronunciation apply.

Listen: 张

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Sound it out

zh- A retroflex affricate: curl the tongue tip up and back toward the front of the hard palate, make contact, then release into a hollow-sounding hiss. No aspiration and no voicing.

-ang A wide, open "ah" — genuinely open, jaw down — closed by ng at the back of the mouth. The tongue tip has nothing to do here and should rest behind the lower teeth.

zhāng (level) High and flat for the full length of the syllable. The open vowel gives the pitch plenty of space to drift, so this is a good place to check whether your first tone really holds.

Hear it in a sentence

桌子上有一张纸。

Zhuōzi shàng yǒu yì zhāng zhǐ.

There is a sheet of paper on the table.

Listen: 桌子上有一张纸。

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桌子上有一张纸。 gives you a lot to track. Zhuōzi is high plus toneless; shàng falls; yǒu dips; yì is the converted form of 一 before the first-tone zhāng; and zhǐ ends the sentence with a full third tone. Notice zhuō, zhāng and zhǐ all use the same retroflex initial, so the sentence is a natural drill for keeping the tongue curled.

Where English speakers slip

The retroflex is the main casualty: English speakers produce the j of "John", with the tongue flat and the sound voiced, which drifts toward the palatal j of Mandarin — a genuinely different consonant. Curl the tip back until the sound feels muffled. The nasal ending is the second issue: zhāng with a front n becomes a different syllable, and English speakers merge the two nasals unless they are actively listening for the difference.