A personified yak Chinese teacher that explains pinyin initials and finals with tricky sounds j q x zh ch sh r.

Pinyin Made Simple: Initials, Finals, and Tricky Sounds — Free PDF and Flashcards

Pinyin Made Simple: Initials, Finals, and Tricky Sounds is built for learners who want useful Traditional Chinese vocabulary in a clean reference format instead of a long, fluffy article.

Grab your tea, take a deep breath, and let’s make pinyin feel a lot less mysterious. Scroll to the bottom for the free printable traditional chinese vocabulary list list PDF and the free downloadable printable traditional chinese list flashcards.

Use this list as a starting point, then keep going in the Yak Yacker Traditional Chinese section for more words, phrases, and study-friendly reference pages.

Quick Quiz

Feeling brave? Try the quiz before you scroll the list – or come back after a study pass.

Browse the Full List

WordPinyinTypeMeaningExample
aafinalvowel
aiaifinaldiphthong
ananfinalnasal
angangfinalnasal
bbinitialconsonant
ccinitialconsonant
chchinitialconsonant
ddinitialconsonant
ffinitialconsonant
gginitialconsonant
hhinitialconsonant
haohaosyllableexample
jjinitialconsonant
kkinitialconsonant
llinitialconsonant
mminitialconsonant
mamasyllableexample
nninitialconsonant
ninisyllableexample
ppinitialconsonant
qqinitialconsonant
rrinitialconsonant
ssinitialconsonant
shshinitialconsonant
ttinitialconsonant

Free Traditional Chinese Vocabulary List and Flashcard PDFs to Download

You’ll find the purple vocab-list button for the traditional chinese vocabulary list list and the teal flashcards button for the traditional chinese list flashcards. Both downloads are 100% free with no signup required.