---
title: "Chinese Onomatopoeia: 28 Sound Words With Pinyin and Audio"
description: "28 Chinese sound words (拟声词): animals like 汪汪 (woof) and 喵喵 (meow), people like 哈哈 (ha ha) and 嘘 (shh), and things like 叮咚 (ding-dong) and 滴答 (tick-tock), each in a sentence with pinyin, the English and Play to hear it."
canonical: "https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-onomatopoeia"
author: "Mandarin The Wild"
---

Free · 28 sounds

# Chinese onomatopoeia

Each sound word in a sentence, with pinyin and sound.

[Print as flashcards](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-flashcards?level=mine&words=%E6%B1%AA%E6%B1%AA%20%E5%96%B5%E5%96%B5%20%E5%98%8E%E5%98%8E%20%E5%93%9E%20%E5%92%A9%20%E5%8F%BD%E5%8F%BD%E5%96%B3%E5%96%B3%20%E5%90%B1%E5%90%B1%20%E5%97%A1%E5%97%A1%20%E5%93%88%E5%93%88%20%E5%98%BB%E5%98%BB%20%E5%93%87%20%E5%92%95%E5%92%95%20%E5%91%BC%E5%99%9C%20%E5%98%98%20%E5%93%8E%E5%91%80%20%E5%92%95%E5%92%9A%20%E5%92%9A%E5%92%9A%20%E5%8F%AE%E5%92%9A%20%E5%93%97%E5%93%97%20%E6%BB%B4%E7%AD%94%20%E8%BD%B0%E9%9A%86%E9%9A%86%20%E5%99%BC%E9%87%8C%E5%95%AA%E5%95%A6%20%E6%89%91%E9%80%9A%20%E6%B2%99%E6%B2%99%20%E5%92%94%E5%9A%93)

Speed

## Animals

xiǎogǒu小狗wāngwāng汪汪jiào叫。

The puppy goes woof woof.

汪汪 wāngwāng · woof (a dog)

xiǎomāo小猫miāomiāo喵喵jiào叫。

The kitten goes meow.

喵喵 miāomiāo · meow (a cat)

xiǎoyāzi小鸭子gāgā嘎嘎jiào叫。

The duckling goes quack quack.

嘎嘎 gāgā · quack (a duck)

qīngwā青蛙zài在hébiān河边guāguā呱呱de地jiào叫。

The frog croaks by the river.

呱呱 guāguā · croak (a frog)

gōngjī公鸡wō喔wō喔jiào叫。

The rooster crows.

喔喔 wōwō · cock-a-doodle-doo (a rooster)

lǎoniú老牛mōu哞mōu哞jiào叫。

The old cow goes moo.

哞 mōu · moo (a cow)

xiǎoyáng小羊miēmiē咩咩jiào叫。

The lamb goes baa.

咩 miē · baa (a sheep)

xiǎoniǎo小鸟jījizhāzhā叽叽喳喳de地jiào叫。

The little birds chirp and twitter.

叽叽喳喳 jījizhāzhā · chirp and twitter (birds)

lǎoshǔ老鼠zhīzhī吱吱de地jiào叫。

The mouse squeaks.

吱吱 zhīzhī · squeak (a mouse)

mìfēng蜜蜂wēngwēng嗡嗡de地fēi飞。

The bees buzz around.

嗡嗡 wēngwēng · buzz (bees, flies)

## People

tā他hāhā-dàxiào哈哈大笑。

He roars with laughter.

哈哈 hāhā · ha ha (a laugh)

tā她xīxī嘻嘻de地xiào笑le了。

She giggled.

嘻嘻 xīxī · tee-hee (a giggle)

bǎobao宝宝wāwā-dàkū哇哇大哭。

The baby wails.

哇 wā · waah (a cry)

wǒ我è饿de得dùzi肚子gūgū咕咕jiào叫。

I’m so hungry my stomach is growling.

咕咕 gūgū · growl (a hungry stomach); coo (a pigeon)

bàba爸爸shuìjiào睡觉dǎhūlu打呼噜。

Dad snores in his sleep.

呼噜 hūlu · snore

xū嘘！xiǎoshēng小声diǎnr点儿。

Shh! Keep it down.

嘘 xū · shh

āiyā哎呀，wǒ我wàng忘le了！

Oh no, I forgot!

哎呀 āiyā · oh no; oops

tā他gūdōng咕咚gūdōng咕咚de地hēshuǐ喝水。

He gulps the water down.

咕咚 gūdōng · gulp; a heavy thud

## Things

yǒurén有人dōngdōng咚咚de地qiāomén敲门。

Someone knocks on the door.

咚咚 dōngdōng · knock knock; a drum

ménlíng门铃dīngdōng叮咚dīngdōng叮咚de地xiǎng响。

The doorbell goes ding-dong.

叮咚 dīngdōng · ding-dong

héshuǐ河水huāhuā哗哗de地liú流。

The river rushes along.

哗哗 huāhuā · the rush of water or rain

shízhōng时钟dīdā滴答dīdā滴答de地zǒu走。

The clock goes tick-tock.

滴答 dīdā · tick-tock; drip

tiānshàng天上hōnglōnglōng轰隆隆de地dǎléi打雷。

Thunder rumbles in the sky.

轰隆隆 hōnglōnglōng · rumble; boom

biānpào鞭炮pīlipālā噼里啪啦de地xiǎng响。

The firecrackers crackle and pop.

噼里啪啦 pīlipālā · crackle and pop

tā他pūtōng扑通yīshēng一声tiàojìn跳进shuǐ水li里。

He jumped into the water with a splash.

扑通 pūtōng · splash; thump

fēng风chuī吹de得shùyè树叶shāshā沙沙xiǎng响。

The wind makes the leaves rustle.

沙沙 shāshā · rustle

qìchē汽车dī嘀dī嘀de地àn按lǎba喇叭。

The car honks: beep beep.

嘀嘀 dīdī · beep (a horn)

kāchā咔嚓，tā他pāi拍le了yī一zhāng张zhàopiàn照片。

Click! He took a photo.

咔嚓 kāchā · click; snap

## What is onomatopoeia called in Chinese?

拟声词 (nǐshēngcí), “words that imitate sounds”. Many are doubled, like 汪汪 and 哈哈. They go right before the verb, often with 地: 小狗汪汪叫 (the puppy barks), 河水哗哗地流 (the river rushes along).

## What sound does a dog make in Chinese?

汪汪 (wāngwāng). A cat says 喵 (miāo) or 喵喵, a rooster 喔喔 (wōwō), a cow 哞 (mōu), a sheep 咩 (miē), a duck 嘎嘎 (gāgā) and a frog 呱呱 (guāguā).

## How do you write laughing in Chinese?

哈哈 (hāhā) for a laugh and 嘻嘻 (xīxī) for a giggle. In chats, a longer 哈哈哈哈 is a bigger laugh.

## Can’t hear it?

Play uses your device’s Mandarin voice. Edge, Chrome and Safari have one; on other browsers, add Chinese speech in your system’s language settings.

## More free tools

- [Animals in Chinese](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-vocabulary/animals)
- [Chinese tongue twisters](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-tongue-twisters)
- [Chinese internet slang](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-slang)
- [Chinese emoji](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-emoji)

Sentences and English ours; pinyin from our own reader.