<p>I think a person of English background should have no problem telling &quot;n&quot; and &quot;ng&quot; in both English and Chinese because they are very similar in both languages. For example, in English, you say &quot;I am in the room doing my homework&quot;. A native Chinese student may denote it as &quot;爱 诶母 因 责 入母 杜英 迈 侯母卧课&quot;. You can see &quot;因(in)为&quot; is different from &quot;英(ing)雄&quot;. Pinyin overlooked the core vowel, otherwise, 因 is (ien) and 英 is (ieng). They have the same rimes as 分 (fen) and 风 (feng).</p>
<p>Chinese do not treat (an) and (ang) as the same rhyme (rime), neither (en) and (eng).</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-02T09:33:44.583Z
2024-08-02T09:46:57.137Z
2024-08-02T09:46:57.137Z
PdotWang
<p>Because many Chinese can't really differentiate it. In Chinese primary school, differentiating &quot;in&quot; and &quot;ing&quot;, &quot;en&quot; and &quot;eng&quot; are always a difficulty in exam, regardless of region.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-06T02:42:34.897Z
2024-08-06T02:42:34.897Z
Tec99
<p>身为中文母语人士，要是单独的将“林”和“零”进行区分，那么在发音上则更难一点，但是我们通常可以借助语境来理解。比如我们听到“树林”时就会知道这并非“树零”。同样的，在区分“南”与“囊”时也可以借助语境。我再来举一个例子：请问你是如何区分&quot;no&quot; &amp; &quot;know&quot;的呢？我们很难单独区分这两个词语，但是可以借助语境。
As native Chinese speakers, it is a little more difficult to distinguish between &quot;林&quot; and &quot;零&quot; in pronunciation, but we can usually understand it with the help of context. For example, when we hear &quot;树林,&quot; we know it's not &quot;树零&quot;. Similarly, context can be used to distinguish between &quot;南&quot; and &quot;囊&quot;. Let me give you another example: How do you distinguish between &quot;no&quot; and &quot;know&quot;? It's hard to distinguish between these two words alone, but context helps.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-04T01:55:31.183Z
2024-08-04T01:55:31.183Z
AllayFromChina
<p>I have been listening to many native speakers and it seems that in certain contexts, the &quot;n&quot; and &quot;ng&quot; final consonant sound are pronounced very similarish that I can't distinguish them clearly.</p>
<p>For example, when native speakers say 南 nan versus 囊 nang, I can clearly hear they are saying &quot;-n&quot; in nan rather than nang.</p>
<p>But when they say 林 lin, it sounds very similar to 零ling to the extent that I can't differentiate it. The 林 sounds a lot more like ling. I even tried it on google translate pronunciations and it also sounds like ling.</p>
<p>Am I mishearing it or is it meant to actually be pronounced the same?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-02T07:50:39.840Z
These finals aren't actually consonants but changes to the vowels! Explained nicely here: https://youtu.be/qNqNKR5D7CI?si=U3U9yBMsvpC0Uip4
//
A native Chinese speaker (southern China IIRC) told me he couldn't hear the difference between jìn and jìng. I'm an intermediate/advanced student and I can't really either, even though I do have some idea about what the difference "is".
goPlayerJuggler
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2024-08-02T08:15:47.603Z
Yes, I think that 行 xíng, for example, is often spoken with a nasal  ñ, as in España (Spanish for Spain) or a gn Espagne (French for Spain). On the other hand, especially after the Great Vowel Shift, English spelling and pronunciation are only very remote cousins!
Pedroski
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-02T18:12:48.040Z
I grew up in southern China and when I was a kid, I couldn’t hear the difference between in and ing (I was okay with all other n vs ng though). One day when I was around 8 or 9, all of sudden I can hear this difference. So similar to what @goPlayerJuggler said, n vs ng (especially in vs ing) is hard for people from southern China.
kyc
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-03T22:41:22.660Z
I believe it's the other way around. It's -ng becoming -n. -ng is on its way out. I haven't met too many people who can pronounce -ying or -ing as they should be. For example, most people pronounce dian ying (movie) as dian yin and qing zhu (celebrate) as qin zhu. Even some Beijingers I met didn't differentiate them.
joehua
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-06T19:34:59.803Z
Related: [Why is 听 sometimes pronounced tʰjəŋ rather than tʰiŋ?](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/54385), [How to differentiate between -in and -ing final sounds in spoken Mandarin](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/55640), [Pronouncing pinyin "ing" (bopomofoㄧㄥ ) as /iŋ/ or /jəŋ/ e.g. in 冰](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/45269), [What is the difference in pronunciation between saying "jin" and "jing"?](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/10266)
sumelic
<mandarin><pronunciation>
Why do "-n" endings sound like "ng" sometimes in Mandarin?
# Why do "-n" endings sound like "ng" sometimes in Mandarin?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-08-02)

I have been listening to many native speakers and it seems that in certain contexts, the "n" and "ng" final consonant sound are pronounced very similarish that I can't distinguish them clearly.

For example, when native speakers say 南 nan versus 囊 nang, I can clearly hear they are saying "-n" in nan rather than nang.

But when they say 林 lin, it sounds very similar to 零ling to the extent that I can't differentiate it. The 林 sounds a lot more like ling. I even tried it on google translate pronunciations and it also sounds like ling.

Am I mishearing it or is it meant to actually be pronounced the same?

**Tags:** mandarin, pronunciation

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: These finals aren't actually consonants but changes to the vowels! Explained nicely here: https://youtu.be/qNqNKR5D7CI?si=U3U9yBMsvpC0Uip4 // A native Chinese speaker (southern China IIRC) told me he couldn't hear the difference between jìn and jìng. I'm an intermediate/advanced student and I can't really either, even though I do have some idea about what the difference "is".  
> **username_2**: Yes, I think that 行 xíng, for example, is often spoken with a nasal  ñ, as in España (Spanish for Spain) or a gn Espagne (French for Spain). On the other hand, especially after the Great Vowel Shift, English spelling and pronunciation are only very remote cousins!  
> **username_3**: I grew up in southern China and when I was a kid, I couldn’t hear the difference between in and ing (I was okay with all other n vs ng though). One day when I was around 8 or 9, all of sudden I can hear this difference. So similar to what @username_1 said, n vs ng (especially in vs ing) is hard for people from southern China.  
> **username_4**: I believe it's the other way around. It's -ng becoming -n. -ng is on its way out. I haven't met too many people who can pronounce -ying or -ing as they should be. For example, most people pronounce dian ying (movie) as dian yin and qing zhu (celebrate) as qin zhu. Even some Beijingers I met didn't differentiate them.  
> **username_5**: Related: [Why is 听 sometimes pronounced tʰjəŋ rather than tʰiŋ?](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/54385), [How to differentiate between -in and -ing final sounds in spoken Mandarin](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/55640), [Pronouncing pinyin "ing" (bopomofoㄧㄥ ) as /iŋ/ or /jəŋ/ e.g. in 冰](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/45269), [What is the difference in pronunciation between saying "jin" and "jing"?](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/10266)  

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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_6 on 2024-08-02. Score: 1

I think a person of English background should have no problem telling "n" and "ng" in both English and Chinese because they are very similar in both languages. For example, in English, you say "I am in the room doing my homework". A native Chinese student may denote it as "爱 诶母 因 责 入母 杜英 迈 侯母卧课". You can see "因(in)为" is different from "英(ing)雄". Pinyin overlooked the core vowel, otherwise, 因 is (ien) and 英 is (ieng). They have the same rimes as 分 (fen) and 风 (feng).

Chinese do not treat (an) and (ang) as the same rhyme (rime), neither (en) and (eng).


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### Answer by username_7 on 2024-08-06. Score: 0

Because many Chinese can't really differentiate it. In Chinese primary school, differentiating "in" and "ing", "en" and "eng" are always a difficulty in exam, regardless of region.


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### Answer by username_8 on 2024-08-04. Score: 0

身为中文母语人士，要是单独的将“林”和“零”进行区分，那么在发音上则更难一点，但是我们通常可以借助语境来理解。比如我们听到“树林”时就会知道这并非“树零”。同样的，在区分“南”与“囊”时也可以借助语境。我再来举一个例子：请问你是如何区分"no" & "know"的呢？我们很难单独区分这两个词语，但是可以借助语境。
As native Chinese speakers, it is a little more difficult to distinguish between "林" and "零" in pronunciation, but we can usually understand it with the help of context. For example, when we hear "树林," we know it's not "树零". Similarly, context can be used to distinguish between "南" and "囊". Let me give you another example: How do you distinguish between "no" and "know"? It's hard to distinguish between these two words alone, but context helps.


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