Finished Learning Pinyin? Try Reading These 30 Chinese Characters

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You have learnt the initials, finals and four tones. Can you now use them to read a word aloud? These 30 characters give you somewhere practical to start, from colours and animals to the numbers one to ten. Read each one with its pinyin beside it. Some sounds may still need practice, but you can begin connecting pronunciation with meaning straight away.

What Should You Be Able to Do After Learning Pinyin?

You should be able to look at a pinyin syllable, work out its sound and include its tone. You may need to blend the parts slowly before saying the whole syllable smoothly.

Reading an unfamiliar character without pinyin takes additional learning. For this exercise, keep the pinyin visible and look at the character as you say it. There is no need to memorise all 30 at once.

Useful Chinese Words and Phrases: 30 Characters

Tap the speaker beside each character to hear it, then try reading it aloud yourself.

Directions: Up, Down, Left and Right

• 上🔊shàngup; above
• 下🔊xiàdown; below
• 左🔊zuǒleft
• 右🔊yòuright

In shàng, notice both sh and the -ang ending. In xià and zuǒ, blend the vowel sequence into one syllable. Avoid reading each letter as a separate sound.

Weather: Rain, Snow and Wind

• 雨🔊yǔrain
• 雪🔊xuěsnow
• 风🔊fēngwind

The u in yǔ represents the ü sound. In xuě, the final is üe, with the dots omitted after x. Keep your lips rounded; these are different from the u in wǔ below.

Seasons: Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter

• 春🔊chūnspring
• 夏🔊xiàsummer
• 秋🔊qiūautumn
• 冬🔊dōngwinter

Practise these two characters together. In qiū, iu is the shortened spelling of iou after an initial.

Colours: Red, Yellow, Blue, White and Black

• 红🔊hóngred
• 黄🔊huángyellow
• 蓝🔊lánblue
• 白🔊báiwhite
• 黑🔊hēiblack

Keep -an in lán distinct from -ang in huáng. The first ends with the tongue touching behind the upper teeth; the second uses the back of the tongue. The g in -ng is not a separate release.

Animals: Cat, Dog, Bird and Fish

• 猫🔊māocat
• 狗🔊gǒudog
• 鸟🔊niǎobird
• 鱼🔊yúfish

鱼 yú and 雨 yǔ share the same syllable with different tones. Say each on its own, keeping the vowel consistent. Then check whether you can hear the difference between the rising second tone and the third tone.

Numbers: One to Ten

• 一🔊yīone
• 二🔊èrtwo
• 三🔊sānthree
• 四🔊sìfour
• 五🔊wǔfive
• 六🔊liùsix
• 七🔊qīseven
• 八🔊bāeight
• 九🔊jiǔnine
• 十🔊shíten

The i in sì and shí differs from the vowel in qī. It represents a different sound, rather than being silent. Practise sì, shí and qī separately. 一 is yī when counted on its own; its tone can change in phrases.

Try a Five-Minute Reading Check

Choose one group. Read each character with its pinyin, then cover the English and recall the meaning. Shuffle the order so you are reading rather than reciting a list.

Next, try these lines. The spaces separate individual practice items; they are not sentences.

• shàng · xià · zuǒ · yòu
• yǔ · yú · yǔ · yú
• sān · shí · sì · qī

A Short Everyday Conversation

Looking at an animal in a photo, try this tiny conversation. The extra word 是 shì means “to be” here.

Final Takeaway

Use these characters to check how well you can apply pinyin to real vocabulary. Keep practising the sounds and tones, and let repeated encounters help you recognise the characters too.

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