Pinyin chart · ri
How to say ri
ri in its 1 tone, said in a female or a male voice. Tap a tone to hear it.
ri
Tap a tone to hear it; tap it again to hear it slower.
How to say it
r: The tongue curls back as for sh, but the voice is on: between the s in “pleasure” and the r in “run”.
The i: The i in ri is not “ee”. Keep the tongue curled back from the r and let the voice carry on, a soft “rr” buzz.
Its tones
rì 日 day. rī and rí and rǐ aren’t used in standard Mandarin. The pinyin trainer practices telling them apart in real words.
Sounds near it
Learners often mix ri up with these. Listen to them one after the other.
Words with ri
The voices are generated speech (ElevenLabs), the same two the app’s word cards use, each tone said as one real word. The words are from the official HSK list (the exam’s 2025 syllabus), easiest first. Every syllable is on the pinyin chart.