Mandarin and English disagree most about two things: voicing — Mandarin contrasts consonants by breath (aspiration), English by whether the throat buzzes — and the ends of words, where Mandarin allows only n and ng and English allows nearly everything.
The vowels add a few splits Mandarin doesn't need. Each item below links a head-to-head page with audio for both sides.
Mandarin has no θ, so think drifts toward sink. The tongue tip goes between the teeth — further forward than s ever goes.
Hear the pair side by side →The voiced th of this buzzes between the teeth, not behind them. Tongue out one small step, voice on.
Hear the pair side by side →Mandarin has w but no v, so very can soften into wery. For v the top teeth touch the bottom lip and the air buzzes through.
Hear the pair side by side →Mandarin z is ts — a stop, no voice. English z is a pure buzz: the throat hums the whole way through zoo.
Hear the pair side by side →English splits i into ship and sheep. The short one is quick and relaxed — lower and laxer than yi.
Hear the pair side by side →Book and moon split the u range the same way: book's vowel is short and loose, moon's long and firm.
Hear the pair side by side →Apple's vowel opens wider than the e of 也 — jaw down, tongue low and front.
Hear the pair side by side →Mandarin keeps -n and -ng apart too — but the English pair sits in different words. Sun ends at the teeth ridge, sung at the back; English listeners bank on the difference.
Hear the pair side by side →Mandarin syllables never end in d, so English final d tends to vanish or harden. Bed needs its d — short, voiced, and actually there.
Hear the pair side by side →Which of these are actually yours? That is the part no list can know.
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