Pinyin chart · yan
How to say yan
yan in all four tones, said in a female or a male voice. Tap a tone to hear it.
yan
Tap a tone to hear it; tap it again to hear it slower.
How to say it
No initial: No consonant: the syllable starts with its vowel. The y or w in front is spelling only and adds no sound of its own.
ian: In ian the a sounds close to the e of “yen”, not the a of “father”.
Its tones
yān 烟 smoke · yán 言 words · yǎn 眼 eye · yàn 燕 swallow. The pinyin trainer practices telling them apart in real words.
Spelling
- Said alone, ian is written yan: a final that begins with i, u or ü takes y or w in front.
Sounds near it
Learners often mix yan up with these. Listen to them one after the other.
Words with yan
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.