Initials in Pinyin

j, q and x

Initials in Pinyin, j, q, x

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.

 

The initial j, q, and x are trickier to pronounce for beginners. These initials sound similar.

 

Rules

Finals that can be paired:

  • Single final – i, ü
  • Compound and Nasal final starts with – i, ü
  • When we type j, q, x with “ü”, the “ü“ is replaced with normal “u”.

 

Initials

j

q

x

 

 

 

Here are some guides with English pronunciation on how to pronounce the initials.

Initial

Pronunciation as in English

Character

Meaning

Pinyin

j

Gin

Chicken

q

Cheese

Seven

x

Shift

Wash

 

Tone Drills of the initials, j, q, x

Initials

j

q

x

 

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 j, q, and x.

 

j

q

x

i

ji

qi

xi

ia

jia

qia

xia

iao

jiao

qiao

xiao

ie

jie

qie

xie

iu

jiu

qiu

xiu

in

jin

qin

xin

iang

jiang

qiang

xiang

ing

jing

qing

xing

iong

jiong

qiong

xiong

ü

üe

jüe

qüe

xüe

üan

jüan

qüan

xüan

ün

jün

qün

xün