Pinyin chart · ze
How to say ze
ze in its 2 tones, said in a female or a male voice. Tap a tone to hear it.
ze
Tap a tone to hear it; tap it again to hear it slower.
How to say it
z: Like the ds in “beds”, with no puff of air.
e: e on its own is not the e in “bed”: it is like the “uh” in “duh” said with the lips spread and the tongue pulled back.
Its tones
zé 则 then · zè 仄 oblique tones. zē and zě aren’t used in standard Mandarin. The pinyin trainer practices telling them apart in real words.
Sounds near it
Learners often mix ze up with these. Listen to them one after the other.
Words with ze
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.