Mandarin Chinese Initial and Finals: Pinyin Table 1

This is the first of four tables illustrating which pairings of initials and finals do occur in Mandarin Chinese and, by omission, which do not.

The initial b, for instance, may be paired with a, but not with e, since ba is a sound in Mandarin Chinese, while be is not.

By the way, don't let the great number of sounds you see represented here alarm you. The majority of these are seldom used.

**Table 1:** Chinese initials (*left*) and **finals** a through ***ong*** (*top*).
	a	o	e	-i^*	er	ai	ei	ao	ou	an	en	ang	eng	ong
b	ba	bo				bai	bei	bao		ban	ben	bang	beng
p	pa	po				pai	pei	poa	pou	pan	pen	pang	peng
m	ma	mo	me			mai	mei	mao	mou	man	men	mang	meng
f	fa	fo					fei		fou	fan	fen	fang	feng
d	da		de			dai	dei	dao	dou	dan	den	dang	deng	dong
t	ta		te			tai		tao	tou	tan		tang	teng	tong
n	na		ne			nai	nei		nou	nan	nen	nang	neng	nong
l	la		le			lai	lei	nao	lou	lan		lang	leng	long
z	za		ze	zi		zai	zei	zao	zou	zan	zen	zang	zeng	zong
c	ca		ce	ci		cai		cao	cou	can	cen	cang	ceng	cong
s	sa		se	si		sai		sao	sou	san	sen	sang	seng	song
zh	zha		zhe	zhi		zhai	zhei	zhao	zou	zan	zen	zhang	zheng	zhong
ch	cha		che	chi		chai		chao	chou	chan	chen	chang	cheng	chong
sh	sha		she	shi		shai	shei	shao	shou	shan	shen	shang	sheng
r			re	ri				rao	rou	ran	ren	rang	reng	rong
j
q
x
g	ga		ge			gai	gei	gao	gou	gan	gen	gang	geng	gong
k	ka		ke			kai	kei	kao	kou	kan	ken	kang	keng	kong
h	ha		he			hai	hei	hao	hou	han	hen	hang	heng	hong
	a	o	e		er	ai	ei	ao	ou	an	en	ang	eng

NOTE

Note that the bottom row without initials signifies Chinese sounds consisting of finals only without preceding initial consonants. Also, ^* the final -i should not be confused with i appearing in Table 2. These two finals are pronounced differently and match with different initials.

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