Pinyin final: "e3"

Mouth Mechanics (step-by-step)

1. Relax your jaw and let your mouth open a little (not wide like “ah,” not tight like “ee”).
2. Keep your lips neutral: no rounding (don’t push them forward like “oo”), and don’t smile.
3. Pull the tongue slightly back so the back of the tongue is gently raised toward the back/roof area of your mouth.
4. Keep the tongue tip low and relaxed, resting behind the lower front teeth (don’t curl it up).
5. Phonate smoothly (steady voice). This vowel should feel deep/back and hollow, not bright.
6. Add 3rd tone: start mid, dip down, then rise slightly (a “fall–rise” contour). Keep it smooth, not bouncy.

English Approximation (how to get close)

This vowel is not a perfect match in English, but you can get close with these approximations:

• “uh” in “duh” (the vowel sound): Use the “uh,” but move it backward in your mouth and avoid any “r-ish” coloring.
• “u” in “cut” (the vowel): Start with that sound, then relax the lips more and pull the tongue a bit farther back.
• “a” in “sofa” (the unstressed “uh”): Make it stronger and more back, not weak and mumbly.

Important modification: Many American English speakers automatically color “uh” with a slight r-like resonance in some contexts. For Mandarin e3, keep it clean—no “er/urr” quality.

Common Mistakes (English-speaker pitfalls)

• Turning it into “ay/eh” (like “bait” or “bet”): That makes it too front/bright. Keep it back and duller.
• Adding an English “r” sound (making it like “err”): Don’t curl the tongue tip up, and don’t tighten the tongue.
• Rounding the lips (drifting toward “oh/oo”): Lips stay neutral.
• Forgetting the 3rd tone shape: e3 is not flat—practice the dip then slight rise.

Practice Pairs (visualizing the sound)

Approximate English words are only “sound neighbors”—use them to aim your mouth shape, then shift to the Mandarin target.

Comparisons & Caveats (similar pinyin sounds to watch)

A) e after different initials is not always the same vowel

In the Marilyn Method, two different vowel qualities are being spelled with “e” in pinyin:

1) Back “e” (the main topic here):
- e3, ge3, ke3, zhe3, che3, she3, re3: These use the same back, unrounded vowel. It’s the “deep/back uh-like” sound.

2) Front “e” sound after y-/i-/ü- type glides (spelled with e but pronounced more like “ye/üe”):
- ye3, jie3, qie3, xie3, bie3, pie3, tie3, lie3 (these behave like -ie)
- yue3, jue3, xue3 (these behave like -üe)

What this means:
- e3 / ge3 / she3 / re3: make the vowel back (a back “uh-like” vowel).
- ye3 / xie3 / jie3: the vowel is front “ye”-like (it will feel closer to “yeh,” but still Mandarin-clean).
- yue3 / jue3 / xue3: the vowel is front and rounded because of ü (lips round, tongue front/high).

So, even though pinyin writes e in all these, your mouth should not do the same thing in all of them.

B) Don’t confuse Mandarin e with Mandarin ei / en

• ei (as in “mei”) has a clear glide toward “ee”—much “brighter.”
• en adds an n ending; e3 has no final consonant—it’s an open vowel.

C) Tone caveat: 3rd tone in real speech

In careful practice, pronounce the full dip–rise. In faster sentences, 3rd tone can sound more like a low tone unless it’s emphasized. For textbook practice of e3, keep the full contour so your foundation is solid.