Chinese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "最后" in Chinese?

Q: How do you pronounce 最后 in Chinese?

最后 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /tsweɪ˥˩.xoʊ˥˩/. It means “last / final.” dzway-HOE, both syllables dropping hard. A "ds" onset with lip-rounding, then a scraped h.

dzway-HOE, both syllables dropping hard. A "ds" onset with lip-rounding, then a scraped h.

最后 /tsweɪ˥˩.xoʊ˥˩/

zuìhòu

Two falling tones in succession, unchanged by any rule. The first is shortened, as always in a double-fourth pair, so the word runs short-drop then full-drop. Worth noting too that 后 is falling here while 一 immediately after the word will convert to a rising yí — a change caused by whatever follows it, not by this word.

Listen: 最后

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Sound it out

zuì The tip touches the teeth ridge and releases hissing with no breath, immediately into a rounded glide, a short "eh", and a close at "ee". Three vowel positions after an affricate, with the pitch diving throughout.

hòu A scraped h at the soft palate rather than a soft English breath, then a vowel that begins fairly unrounded and closes toward "oo". Another full descent.

Hear it in a sentence

这是最后一块。

Zhè shì zuìhòu yí kuài.

This is the last piece.

Listen: 这是最后一块。

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这是最后一块。 ends with yí kuài, and that is the 一 rule in plain view: kuài is a falling tone, so 一 becomes rising. The sentence therefore has four consecutive falling tones — zhè, shì, zuì, hòu — then a rise, then a final fall. Keeping those four drops distinct rather than merging them into a slide is the whole difficulty.

Where English speakers slip

The z is read as English z by most beginners, losing the stop closure. Touch the ridge first. On the second syllable the h often disappears entirely before the rounded vowel, leaving "ow" — add real friction at the back of the mouth. And the four-fall run in the example sentence is routinely levelled out into a monotone descent.