Pinyin chart · yuan

How to say yuan

yuan in all four tones, said in a female or a male voice. Tap a tone to hear it.

yuan

Tap a tone to hear it; tap it again to hear it slower.

Voice

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.

üan: üan starts from ü and the a sounds close to the e of “yen”.

Its tones

yuān 冤 injustice · yuán 元 yuan · yuǎn 远 far · yuàn 院 courtyard. The pinyin trainer practices telling them apart in real words.

Spelling

  • Said alone, üan is written yuan: a final that begins with i, u or ü takes y or w in front.

Sounds near it

Learners often mix yuan up with these. Listen to them one after the other.

Words with yuan

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.