<p>Neither.</p>
<p>The vowel in shì in Standard Mandarin is pronounced as a close back unrounded vowel [ɯ]. Meanwhile the &quot;oe&quot; in &quot;shoe&quot; is a close back rounded vowel [u] and the &quot;e&quot; in &quot;she&quot; is a close front unrounded vowel [i].</p>
<p>The vowel in shì is most close to the sound &quot;oo&quot; in &quot;goose&quot; with a strong Californian accent. (The RP pronunciation of &quot;oo&quot; is [ʉ], a close central rounded vowel. )</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-11-09T04:18:48.293Z
In IPA the Japanese "u", or う, is sometimes classified as an [ɯ] sound, but not close enough to the [ɯ] in shi4 in Mandarin as it features a unique rounding style.
user
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-11-09T03:50:10.903Z
2022-11-09T03:58:16.080Z
2022-11-09T03:58:16.080Z
user
<p>好久不见。</p>
<blockquote>
<p>下午 我 会 去 超市。</p>
<p>Xiàwǔ wǒ huì qù chāoshì.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The problem is that the last pinyin which should be pronounced like &quot;shu&quot; in English but Google-translate(android app) actually pronounce it as like &quot;she&quot;</p>
<p>Should I quit using Google translate app for training my pronounciation skill?</p>
<p>Or still the pronounciation of Google translate app can be understood by native speakers of Chinese?</p>

<pronunciation><tones>
Seems google 翻译 pronouncing in wrong way
# Seems google 翻译 pronouncing in wrong way

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-11-09)

好久不见。

> 下午 我 会 去 超市。
>
> Xiàwǔ wǒ huì qù chāoshì.

The problem is that the last pinyin which should be pronounced like "shu" in English but Google-translate(android app) actually pronounce it as like "she"

Should I quit using Google translate app for training my pronounciation skill?

Or still the pronounciation of Google translate app can be understood by native speakers of Chinese?

**Tags:** pronunciation, tones


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2022-11-09. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

Neither.

The vowel in shì in Standard Mandarin is pronounced as a close back unrounded vowel [ɯ]. Meanwhile the "oe" in "shoe" is a close back rounded vowel [u] and the "e" in "she" is a close front unrounded vowel [i].

The vowel in shì is most close to the sound "oo" in "goose" with a strong Californian accent. (The RP pronunciation of "oo" is [ʉ], a close central rounded vowel. )

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: In IPA the Japanese "u", or う, is sometimes classified as an [ɯ] sound, but not close enough to the [ɯ] in shi4 in Mandarin as it features a unique rounding style.  

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