Group 1: diphthongs starting with a/e/ê
ai similar to y in my
ao similar to ow in how
an
ang
en
eng
ei similar to ay in may
Group 2: diphthongs starting with i
ia
ie similar to ye in yes
iao
iou similar to you (spelled iu when preceded by a consonant)
ian
ien similar to in (spelled in when preceded by a consonant)
ieng similar to En in English (spelled ing when preceded by a consonant)
iang similar to young
iong
Group 3: diphthongs starting with u/o
ua
uo
uai similar to why in British English
uei similar to way (spelled ui when preceded by a consonant)
uan
uen (spelled un when preceded by a consonant)
ueng
uang
ong
Group 4: diphthongs starting with ü
üe used only after j, q, x; spelled ue
üen used only after j, q, x; spelled un
üan used only after j, q, x; spelled uan
1.3 consonants
Consonants may be grouped in the following ways.
Group 1: These consonants are almost the same in Chinese and English.
CHINESE ENGLISH
m m