---
title: "ü vs u and ü vs i: 23 Mandarin Minimal Pairs with Audio | Mandarin The Wild"
description: "Hear the difference between ü or i, ü or u in Mandarin: 23 minimal pairs (lú/lǘ, yī/yū, yē/yuē, yān/yuān, yīn/yūn) to hear in a female or male voice, a ten-question listening quiz and how to say each. Free, no sign-up."
canonical: "https://mandarinthewild.com/pinyin-minimal-pairs/u-umlaut"
author: "Mandarin The Wild"
---

[Mandarin minimal pairs](https://mandarinthewild.com/pinyin-minimal-pairs) · ü

# ü vs u and ü vs i

23 pairs to hear, from 路 lù and 绿 lǜ on. Take the quiz, then tap any pair below to hear both.

Voice

Hear

## How to tell them apart

**ü** is an _ee_ with rounded lips: say _yi_, keep your tongue where it is and round your lips as for _oo_. **u** is _oo_, the tongue pulled back. So 路 lù and 绿 lǜ differ only in where the tongue sits.

After _j_, _q_, _x_ and _y_ pinyin drops the dots, so _ju_, _qu_, _xu_ and _yu_ are all ü and never the _u_ of _wu_. After _n_ and _l_ the dots stay, because there both are possible.

## All 23 pairs

## Questions

### What is the difference between ü or i, ü or u in pinyin?

ü is an ee with rounded lips: say yi, keep your tongue where it is and round your lips as for oo.

### What is a minimal pair in Mandarin?

Two syllables that differ by one sound and nothing else, such as zhī and zī, or fàn and fàng. Hearing them apart is the first step to saying them apart, and to understanding fast speech.

## Practise the tones too

[Tone pair chart](https://mandarinthewild.com/tone-pairs): all 20 tone pairs, each a word to hear. [Pinyin trainer](https://mandarinthewild.com/pinyin-trainer): hear a word and name its tones. [Tone practice](https://mandarinthewild.com/tone-practice): say a word and see your pitch over a native speaker’s. [Pinyin chart](https://mandarinthewild.com/pinyin-chart): every syllable in all four tones.

Voices by ElevenLabs, the same two as the app’s word cards.