b

Sounds similar to "b" as in "boy", but voiceless. Strictly speaking, it is more like the unaspirated "p" in words like "spoon".

pen

bà​ba

dad

爸爸

IPA: [p]

p

Sounds like "p" as in "poke".

to climb

pī​píng

to criticise

批评

IPA: []

m

Sounds like "m" as in "mother".

mā​ma

mother

妈妈

māo

cat

IPA: [m]

a

Sounds like "a" as in "palm".

tooth

ā​yí

aunt

阿姨

IPA: [a]

i y

Sounds like "ee" as in "bee" or "y" as in "yeast".

one

duck

IPA: [i]



Single-syllable audio courtesy of the AllSet Learning Chinese Pronunciation Wiki, used with permission.

HSK word audio courtesy of Audio-cmn. (CC BY-SA 3.0)