Mandarin phrases you can pronounce

Translate English phrases into Mandarin and practice with pinyin, audio, and English-friendly pronunciation hints.

Pinyin Audio playback English-friendly hints

Try:

where is the bathroom thank you how much is this

Mandarin Chinese

洗手间在哪里？

洗手間在哪裡？

Read it piece by piece

洗

shee

English IPA /ʃiː/

手

show

English IPA /ʃoʊ/

间

jyen

English IPA /dʒjɛn/

在

dz-eye

English IPA /dzaɪ/

哪

nah

English IPA /nɑː/

里

lee

English IPA /liː/

Whole phrase

“shee show jyen dz-eye nah lee”

Pronunciation notes

x sounds close to "sh", with the tongue forward.

Matched query

where is the bathroom

Tap the speaker to hear it spoken aloud. | Share page

Browse all Mandarin learning guides

Learn beyond the lookup

Turn one translation into a useful Mandarin lesson

A translation is a starting point, not the whole lesson. Parrot-it pairs phrase lookup with pronunciation guidance so you can notice how Mandarin is written, spoken, and used in context.

A four-pass practice method

Look at the characters. Notice whether the phrase uses simplified or traditional forms, and read the meaning before trying to say it.
Check the Pinyin. Tone marks and syllable boundaries show information that an English spelling hint cannot carry.
Listen and repeat. Hear the complete phrase, then practice the difficult syllable without losing the natural rhythm of the whole phrase.
Use it in a situation. Ask who you would say it to, how formal it sounds, and what extra words would make the meaning clearer.

A beginner path

Start with the sound system, then add tones and sentence patterns. These lessons explain the ideas behind the phrases you look up.

01 Pinyin pronunciation Learn what Mandarin initials and finals sound like. 02 Mandarin tones Practice pitch contrasts that change a word's meaning. 03 Basic sentence order Put time, place, verbs, and objects into a dependable frame.

See all Mandarin learning guides

Before you practice

Three details that make Mandarin pronunciation clearer

Tones are part of the word

The syllable ma can refer to different words depending on its tone. Treat the tone mark as part of the spelling, not as decoration added after the vocabulary is learned.

Hints are only approximations

“Knee how” may remind an English speaker of nǐ hǎo, but it does not explain the tones or the Mandarin vowel quality. Use the hint to begin, then return to Pinyin and audio.

Context changes natural wording

A phrase can be understandable but too formal, too direct, or incomplete for a particular situation. The guides add examples and usage notes so you can choose words with more confidence.

For a deeper explanation of initials, finals, tone marks, and listening practice, start with the Pinyin pronunciation guide and then continue to the Mandarin tones guide.