Pinyin chart · tian
How to say tian
tian in its 3 tones, said in a female or a male voice. Tap a tone to hear it.
tian
Tap a tone to hear it; tap it again to hear it slower.
How to say it
t: Like the t in “top”, with a strong puff of air. The puff is what tells it from d.
ian: In ian the a sounds close to the e of “yen”, not the a of “father”.
Its tones
tiān 天 sky · tián 甜 sweet · tiǎn 舔 to lick. tiàn isn’t used in standard Mandarin. The pinyin trainer practices telling them apart in real words.
Sounds near it
Learners often mix tian up with these. Listen to them one after the other.
Words with tian
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.