2: 韵母: i, u, ü

Basic FinalsPronouns and CommonTheir PhrasesForms

FinalBase	DescriptionWith 们 (Plural)	TipsWith 的 (Possession)	Notes
i我 (wǒ) - I/me	Similar我们 to(wǒmen) "ee"- we/us	Keep我的 tongue(wǒ highde) and- forwardmy/mine
u你 (nǐ) - you	Like你们 "oo"(nǐmen) - you all	Round你的 lips(nǐ de) - your/yours
ü他 (tā) - he	Like他们 German(tāmen) "ü"- they	Say他的 "ee"(tā andde) round- lipshis
她 (tā) - she	她们 (tāmen) - they (female)	她的 (tā de) - hers	Same pronunciation as male form

Note:

New ü is sometimes written as u with dots (ü) or as 'v' in some texts

Important Rules

• Practice 'e' sound before attempting 'ü'
• ü (with dots) is pronounced like "yu"
• 'u' finals are typically the most challenging for beginners
• Tone Change Rule: When two third tones (ǎ) occur together:
  • The first syllable changes to second tone (á)
  • Only the second syllable keeps the third tone (ǎ)
  • Example: 你好 (nǐ hǎo) is actually pronounced as (ní hǎo)
  • This is called tone sandhi

Individual CharactersVocabulary

Character	Pinyin	Meaning	Notes
你鸡	nǐjī	youchicken
好七	hǎoqī	goodseven
谢西	xièxī	thankwest
我西瓜	wǒxīguā	I/mewatermelon	Second syllable often unstressed in casual speech
们	men	plural marker	Never used alone; attaches to pronouns
很	hěn	very	Used between subject and adjective
也	yě	alsoalso/too	Comes after subject
鱼的	yúde	fishpossession marker	Pronounced like "duh"

Grammar Particles

Particle	Pinyin	Usage	Example
吗	ma	Question marker	你好吗？(nǐ hǎo ma?) - How are you?
韵的	yùnde	rhymePossession	我的 (wǒ de) - mine
母们	mǔmen	Plural	我们 (wǒmen) - we

Important Rules

• 们 (men) is only used with pronouns and some animate nouns
• Word order: Subject + 也 (yě) + Rest of sentence
• Possession: Owner + 的 (de) + Object
• In casual speech, second syllables of common words (like 西瓜 xīguā) are often unstressed

Finals Review

• i, u, ü (German ü with dots)
• Character structure often has left and right radicals

Character Components & Radicals

Examples from Our Vocabulary

Character	Left Radical	Right Side	Meaning
好	女 (nǚ) woman	子 (zǐ) child	good (woman + child = good)
她	女 (nǚ) woman	也 (yě) also	she (female + pronoun marker)
鸡	鸟 (niǎo) bird	几 (jī) table	chicken (bird + phonetic)
西	覀 (yà) cover	一 (yī) one	west

Common Left-Right Radical Combinations

Character	Left Radical	Right Side	Meaning
说	讠(speech)	兑 (duì)	to speak
河	氵(water)	可 (kě)	river
想	相 (xiāng)	心 (xīn) heart	to think
树	木 (mù) wood	尌 (shù)	tree
妈	女 (nǚ) woman	马 (mǎ) horse	mother

Common Semantic Radicals

Radical	Meaning	Example Characters
氵	water	河 (hé) river, 海 (hǎi) sea
女	woman	好 (hǎo) good, 妈 (mā) mother
讠	speech	说 (shuō) speak, 话 (huà) words
木	wood/tree	树 (shù) tree, 林 (lín) forest
心	heart	想 (xiǎng) think, 恋 (liàn) love

ExerciseRadical Position Rules

Using the individual characters above, can you:

1. Break down these phrases into their individual characters and explain what each character means:

   • 你好Some radicals only appear on the left (like 讠, 氵)
   • 谢谢你Some can appear in multiple positions (like 心)
   • 我很好Left-right structure (左右结构) is most common
   • 我也很好
   Some
   • 韵母characters also have top-bottom or enclosure structures

Common

Phrases

Explainand howCombinations

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Chinese	Pinyin	Literal ofMeaning	Actual phrases: Usage
你好	nǐ hǎo	you good	Hello
你好吗？	nǐ hǎo (pronouncedma?	you nígood hǎo[question]?	How toare toneyou?
我很好	wǒ hěn hǎo	I very good	I'm very well
你呢？	nǐ ne?	you [question]?	And you?
我也很好	wǒ yě hěn hǎo	I mǔalso very good	I'm good too
早上好	zǎo shang hǎo	morning up good	Good morning
你们好	nǐmen hǎo	you[plural] good	Hello everyone
我们的	wǒmen de	we [possession]	our/ours
他们的	tāmen de	they [possession]	their/theirs
你们的	nǐmen de	you[plural] [possession]	your/yours (plural)