These are common patterns for speakers of Mandarin Chinese, not rules: everyone is different, and many speakers have no trouble with some of these sounds. Press 🔊 to hear each word. Turn on the speaking check to test yourself.
“th” (think, this)
What often happens: Mandarin has no th, so it's often replaced with s, f or z: think → sink, three → free.
How to make it: Put the tip of your tongue lightly between your teeth and blow air out. For think, three, month there's no voice; for this, that, mother, add your voice (a buzz). Don't touch the roof of your mouth, or it becomes t or d.
Practice sentence: I think the three of them thanked their mother on Thursday.
Final consonants (rice, right, ride)
What often happens: Mandarin syllables mostly end in a vowel or n/ng, so final consonants can be dropped or followed by an extra vowel (bed-a).
How to make it: English words often end in a consonant, and it carries meaning. Finish every word: release the last sound clearly, especially t, d, s, z, k. Practise slowly first, then at normal speed.
Practice sentence: I'd like a light bite at night, not a big meal.
Word endings: -s and -ed
What often happens: -s and -ed endings are easy to miss, but they carry grammar.
How to make it: Endings carry grammar: works, played, students. Leaving them out can cost marks in Read Aloud, Repeat Sentence and Write from Dictation. -ed sounds like t (walked), d (played) or id (wanted).
Practice sentence: She worked late and walked home, then called her parents.
“v” and “w” (vest, west)
What often happens: v can sound like w: very → wery, vest → west.
How to make it: v: top teeth touch your bottom lip, with voice: vvv. w: no teeth, just round your lips like a kiss, then open them: oo-et → wet. Use a mirror: if your teeth touch your lip, it's a v.
Practice sentence: We visited a very windy village on Wednesday evening.
“l” and “n” (light, night)
What often happens: Speakers from some southern regions mix l and n: light and night, lice and nice.
How to make it: l: the tongue tip touches behind your top teeth and air flows out at the sides. n: the same tongue position, but air goes through your nose. Pinch your nose: you can still say lll, but nnn stops.
Practice sentence: Lena needs a little light at night.
Short and long vowels (ship, sheep)
What often happens: Short and long vowels (ship and sheep, full and fool) can merge.
How to make it: Short i (ship) is quick and relaxed. Long ee (sheep) is longer, with a wider smile. The same goes for full (short) vs fool (long). The length changes the word, so exaggerate it while you practise.
Practice sentence: Please sit in this seat and leave the window open.
Consonant groups (street, school)
What often happens: Consonant groups like str, spl and xts may get extra vowels (si-treet).
How to make it: English often has two or three consonants together: street, school, spring, texts. Don't add a vowel before or between them (not i-school or se-treet). Start with the s sound directly: sss-chool.
Practice sentence: Students study at school in the spring.
Your accent is fine
The aim is to be clear, not to sound Australian or British. PTE scores pronunciation on how easily most English speakers understand you, and says regional accents are fine. IELTS uses a pronunciation criterion in the speaking test that looks at clarity, stress and intonation, not accent. Fixing the few sounds that change the meaning of words makes the biggest difference.
Stress and rhythm
- Stress one syllable per word: PHOtograph, phoTOGraphy, photoGRAPHic. Check new words in a dictionary that shows stress.
- Stress the important words in a sentence (nouns, main verbs, numbers) and say small words (a, the, of, to) lightly.
- Pause at commas and full stops, not in the middle of a phrase. This matters in PTE Read Aloud.
How to practise (10 minutes a day)
- Pick one sound a day. Listen to the pairs and repeat each word 5 times.
- Say the practice sentence slowly, then at normal speed.
- Record yourself with our speaking recorder and listen back.
- Use the sound in real tasks: Read Aloud, or your IELTS speaking practice.
Unofficial practice. We wrote these questions to match the official PTE Academic task types and timings. They are not real exam questions, and points shown are practice feedback, not a PTE score. For an official estimate, use Pearson's scored practice tests.