How to pronounce Yao Ming
Yao Ming (the basketball player) is 姚明 in Chinese, written Yáomíng in pinyin and said yow-meeng.
姚明
yow-meeng
Sound by sound
- 姚yowSecond tone: rising, as in a question
- 明meengSecond tone: rising, as in a question
Letters to watch
- Ao rhymes with “cow”: mao is “mow” as in “how now”, never “moe”.
People
- Xi Jinping 习近平 shee-jeen-peeng
- Mao Zedong 毛泽东 mow-dzuh-doong
- Deng Xiaoping 邓小平 dung-shyow-peeng
- Confucius (Kongzi) 孔子 koong-dzuh
- Laozi 老子 low-dzuh
- Li Bai 李白 lee-buy
- Zhang Ziyi 章子怡 jahng-dzuh-yee
- Gong Li 巩俐 goong-lee
- Liu Cixin 刘慈欣 lyoh-tsuh-sheen
- Qin Shi Huang 秦始皇 cheen-shr-hwahng
- Sun Wukong 孙悟空 swun-woo-koong
- Mulan 花木兰 hwah-moo-lahn
- Zhuge Liang 诸葛亮 joo-guh-lyahng
- Guan Yu 关羽 gwahn-yew
- Zheng He 郑和 jung-huh
How do you pronounce Yao Ming?
Yao Ming (the basketball player) is 姚明 in Chinese, written Yáomíng in pinyin and said yow-meeng.
What are the tones in Yao Ming?
yáo: second tone, rising, as in a question; míng: second tone, rising, as in a question.
What do English speakers get wrong in Yao Ming?
Ao rhymes with “cow”: mao is “mow” as in “how now”, never “moe”.
More free tools
Voices recorded for our word cards. A spelling such as “shyow-mee” is the nearest English sound, not the sound itself: hear the voices.