 
        Initials in Pinyin
d, t, n and l
Initials in Pinyin, d, t, n, l
Pronouncing the initials can be easy as it is similar to English alphabets. There are a total of 23 initials in the Pinyin syllabus. A word is a form with an initial and final.
| Initials | |||
| d | t | ||
| n | l | ||
Here are some guides with English pronunciation on how to pronounce the initials.
| Initial | Pronunciation as in English | Character | Meaning | Pinyin | |
| d | Dose | 多 | many | duō | |
| t | Tend | 铁 | iron | tiě | |
| n | Nun | 南 | south | nán | |
| l | Lace | 雷 | mine | léi | |
Tone Drills of the initials, d, t, n, l
| Initials | |||||
| d | dē dé dě dè | t | tē té tě tè | ||
| n | nē né ně nè | l | lē lé lě lè | ||
Not all initials can be combined with any finals. Take a look at the table below. These are the only finals that can combine with d, t, n, and l.
| 
 | d | t | n | l | 
| a | da | ta | na | la | 
| e | de | te | ne | le | 
| ai | dai | tai | nai | lai | 
| ei | dei | tei | nei | lei | 
| ao | dao | tao | nao | lao | 
| ou | dou | tou | nou | lou | 
| an | dan | tan | nan | lan | 
| en | den | - | nen | - | 
| ang | dang | tang | nang | lang | 
| eng | deng | teng | neng | leng | 
| ong | dong | tong | nong | long | 
| i | di | ti | ni | li | 
| ia | - | - | - | lia | 
| iao | diao | tiao | niao | liao | 
| ie | die | tie | nie | lie | 
| iu | diu | - | niu | liu | 
| ian | dian | tian | nian | lian | 
| in | - | - | nin | lin | 
| iang | - | - | niang | liang | 
| ing | ding | ting | ning | ling | 
| u | du | tu | nu | lu | 
| uo | duo | tuo | nuo | luo | 
| ui | dui | tui | - | - | 
| uan | duan | tuan | nuan | luan | 
| un | dun | tun | - | lun | 
| ü | - | - | nü | lü | 
| üe | - | - | nüe | lüe |