Chinese Initials - z, c, s _ Chinese Pronunciation Training 06 _ In Chinese
24 Video Views·Jan 22, 2026
Promise me watch to the end to check Xinyu's 'excellent' rap of three Chinese initials z, c and s.😍
Z, c, s are consonants in Chinese pinyin. Do you know what is the relationship between them? Do you know how to distinguish them effectively and correctly? Make sure to watch the video to answer all these questions while improving your knowledge in Chinese with a fun way!
Welcome to In Chinese, and fasten your seatbelts.
I'm Xinyu.
In today's video, we're gonna learn the three initials z, c, s.
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And in the end of this video, I've got the free PDF for you,
which is today's lesson I compiled.
In today's lesson, I've got three parts for you.
Part one, the three initials z, c, s.
Part two, the comparison of z, c, s.
And part three, the practice time.
And we're gonna start right now.
z, c, s
The articulator of these three initials is the front part of the tongue tip.
Let's check them one by one.
The first one is z, z.
z is the affirmative and unaspirated sound.
The first thing you need to do when you pronounce z
is pressing the back of the upper teeth with the tongue tip,
and then moving the tongue tip backward quickly
to leave the channel and let the air squeeze out.
When you're pronouncing z,
the color of your mouth is whiter like you're smiling slightly.
Let's read it together.
z, z, z
xie zi, xie zi
The second one is c, c.
c is the fricative and aspirated sound.
The pronunciation of c is very similar to z.
The only difference is that z is unaspirated sound,
but c is the aspirated sound.
So when you pronounce c, you need to exhale more to pronounce it.
So let's do it.
The last one is s, s.
s is the fricative sound.
The position is the same tip of the tongue,
but when you pronounce it, the first thing you need to do is
let the tongue tip to touch the back of the lower teeth.
At the same time,
let the air rub out the surface of the tongue and the upper teeth.
Let's read it together.
The articulator of z, c, s is the tip of the tongue.
When you pronounce it,
you will feel the friction between your tip and the tongue.
Let's talk about z and c first.
z and c, they both are the aspirated sound.
The position of the mouth is like this.
The only difference is z is unaspirated sound,
but c is aspirated sound.
So when you pronounce c, the air is weaker,
but when you pronounce c, the air is stronger in the mouth.
And we have c, c is the fricative sound.
When you pronounce it,
you need to let the tongue tip to touch the back of the lower teeth.
At the same time, let the air rub out of it.
So let's pronounce them together.
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Right, it's AKA Xinyu from CDC.
DJ, drop the beat.
Practice time.
Please listen to me carefully and write down the initials you hear.
Practice 2.
Please listen to me, choose the correct initials and fill in the blank.
Leave your answer in the comment section, I will check them.
Alright, that's all for today.
Today we've learned the three initials z, c, s.
And there is a gift for you,
which is the fricative I compiled to this lesson.
And you can get it in the comment section.
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I appreciate you and I wish you the very best in your life.
I'm Xinyu, see you next time.
Muah, muah, dah!