Pinyin chart · shi
How to say shi
shi in all four tones, said in a female or a male voice. Tap a tone to hear it.
shi
Tap a tone to hear it; tap it again to hear it slower.
How to say it
sh: Like English sh, with the tongue tip curled back a little further.
The i: The i in shi is not “ee”. Keep the tongue curled back from the sh and let the voice carry on, a soft “rr” buzz.
Its tones
shī 湿 wet · shí 时 time · shǐ 使 to make · shì 是 to be. The pinyin trainer practices telling them apart in real words.
Sounds near it
Learners often mix shi up with these. Listen to them one after the other.
Words with shi
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.