Chinese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "真" in Chinese?

Q: How do you pronounce 真 in Chinese?

真 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ʈʂən˥/. It means “true / real; really.” jun with the tongue curled back, held high and dead level. Short central vowel, front n, no puff of air.

jun with the tongue curled back, held high and dead level. Short central vowel, front n, no puff of air.

真 /ʈʂən˥/

zhēn

Level and immune to change. It does, however, sit right next to a rule in ordinary sentences: 不是真的 puts 不 before shì, a falling tone, so the negator converts to bú — a change caused by 是 rather than by this word, which is a useful reminder that sandhi looks only at the immediately following syllable.

Listen: 真

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Sound it out

zh- Retroflex and unaspirated: the curled tip touches behind the ridge and releases into a hollow hiss with no breath escaping.

-en A short central vowel, much like the one in English "taken", closed with the tongue tip at the ridge. The tongue has to travel forward from its curled position to make that closure.

zhēn (level) Steady, high, unwavering. A short syllable like this gives the pitch little time to establish itself, so it must be at full height from the first instant.

Hear it in a sentence

这不是真的。

Zhè bú shì zhēn de.

It's not true.

Listen: 这不是真的。

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这不是真的。 shows the conversion clearly. Bú rather than bù, because shì falls. Then zhēn holds high and de fades toneless. So the sentence runs fall, rise, fall, level, nothing — five syllables with four different pitch states, and the rising bú is the giveaway that the rule fired.

Where English speakers slip

The initial gets flattened into the j of "jun" with the tongue lying flat, which pulls it toward the palatal series. Curl the tip until the sound goes hollow. The nasal is the other risk: zhēng with a back nasal is a common syllable, and the merger is invisible to an English ear. Finish with the tongue tip touching the ridge.