Taiwan vs Mainland Pronunciation: Standard Readings
Taiwan vs mainland pronunciation: why 垃圾 is lèsè in Taiwan and lājī in China, plus 星期, 企業, 危險, 和 and more, with MOE readings and Zhuyin.
Taiwan and mainland China both teach the same Mandarin, but the two standards differ in the readings of a number of common words. The best-known one is 垃圾 (garbage): the Taiwan MOE dictionary gives lè sè (ㄌㄜˋ ㄙㄜˋ), and mainland standard Mandarin gives lājī. This page lists the words you are most likely to meet, with the Taiwan reading from moedict.tw and the mainland reading next to it.
If you want the wider differences in vocabulary, characters and grammar, the Taiwanese vs mainland Mandarin overview owns that topic. This page is only about how standard words are read.
The words that come up most
| Word | Meaning | Taiwan MOE | Mainland |
|---|---|---|---|
| 垃圾 | garbage | lè sè (ㄌㄜˋ ㄙㄜˋ) | lājī |
| 星期 | week, weekday | xīng qí (ㄒㄧㄥ ㄑㄧˊ) | xīngqī |
| 企業 | company, enterprise | qì yè (ㄑㄧˋ ㄧㄝˋ) | qǐyè |
| 危險 | danger | wéi xiǎn (ㄨㄟˊ ㄒㄧㄢˇ) | wēixiǎn |
| 微笑 | smile | wéi xiào (ㄨㄟˊ ㄒㄧㄠˋ) | wēixiào |
| 說服 | persuade | shuì fú (ㄕㄨㄟˋ ㄈㄨˊ) | shuōfú |
| 研究 | research | yán jiù (ㄧㄢˊ ㄐㄧㄡˋ) | yánjiū |
| 酵母 | yeast | xiào mǔ (ㄒㄧㄠˋ ㄇㄨˇ) | jiàomǔ |
| 暴露 | expose | pù lù (ㄆㄨˋ ㄌㄨˋ) | bàolù |
| 綜合 | combine, general | zòng hé (ㄗㄨㄥˋ ㄏㄜˊ) | zōnghé |
| 從容 | calm, unhurried | cōng róng (ㄘㄨㄥ ㄖㄨㄥˊ) | cóngróng |
| 品質 | quality | pǐn zhí (ㄆㄧㄣˇ ㄓˊ) | pǐnzhì |
| 頭髮 | hair | tóu fǎ (ㄊㄡˊ ㄈㄚˇ) | tóufa |
The columns give each side’s main standard. The MOE dictionary itself lists the mainland sound as an alternative reading (又音) for several of these characters: qī for 期, wēi for 微, jiū for 究 and jiào for 酵. So the mainland form is recognised in Taiwan, even where it is not the main entry.
垃圾: lèsè and lājī
垃圾 is the one most learners notice, because it appears in daily life: 垃圾車 (lè sè chē, ㄌㄜˋ ㄙㄜˋ ㄔㄜ) is the garbage truck, 垃圾桶 (lè sè tǒng, ㄌㄜˋ ㄙㄜˋ ㄊㄨㄥˇ) the bin. In Taiwan, the MOE dictionary lists only lè sè for the word. Mainland materials give lājī, and you will meet that reading in mainland media, apps and videos. lājī is also widely understood in Taiwan, so learn lè sè as the standard and recognise lājī when you hear it. If you are new to Taiwan, the garbage truck guide explains how the system works.
和: written hé, often said hàn
和 is one of the most polysemous characters in the dictionary: hé, huo, hè, huò, hàn and hú are all listed. The one that matters here is the conjunction “and”. The MOE entry gives it as hé (ㄏㄜˊ), and also lists hàn (ㄏㄢˋ) as the spoken (語音) form of that sense. In Taiwan, “我和你” is often said wǒ hàn nǐ, and that is accepted spoken usage. Mainland standard is hé. If you read aloud from a text, hé is always safe. In conversation, either is understood in Taiwan.
The 期 family: qí in Taiwan
The character 期 gives a pattern you can learn once. The MOE dictionary lists qí (ㄑㄧˊ) in the common words, where mainland standard has qī:
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| Word | Taiwan MOE | Mainland |
|---|---|---|
| 星期 week | xīng qí | xīngqī |
| 學期 term | xué qí (ㄒㄩㄝˊ ㄑㄧˊ) | xuéqī |
| 假期 holiday | jià qí (ㄐㄧㄚˋ ㄑㄧˊ) | jiàqī |
| 日期 date | rì qí (ㄖˋ ㄑㄧˊ) | rìqī |
| 期待 look forward to | qí dài (ㄑㄧˊ ㄉㄞˋ) | qīdài |
So if you hear 星期三 as xīng qí sān in Taipei, that is the Taiwan standard reading. The number 七 (qī, ㄑㄧ) is unchanged; do not confuse it with 期.
A few single characters
Several of the differences above come from a single character reading differently:
- 危 is wéi (ㄨㄟˊ) in the MOE dictionary, so 危險 is wéi xiǎn and 危機 (crisis) is wéi jī. Mainland standard reads 危 as wēi.
- 微 is wéi (ㄨㄟˊ) in 微笑, 微波 and 微小 in the MOE dictionary, and wēi in mainland standard.
- 質 is zhí (ㄓˊ) in 品質 and 氣質 in the MOE dictionary. Mainland standard reads these zhì.
- 錫 (tin) is xí (ㄒㄧˊ) in the MOE dictionary, where mainland standard has xī.
- 髮 (hair) is fǎ (ㄈㄚˇ), distinct from 發 fā (ㄈㄚ), and the mainland word is tóufa with a neutral tone.
What stays the same
The great majority of words are read identically. 你好, 謝謝, 學校, 老師 and the rest of the first thousand words share their syllables and tones. The differences are mostly in tone (see the neutral-tone group below) or in a particular character’s reading. The tone system itself is shared, and the Mandarin tones page covers it.
Neutral-tone differences
A large group of differences is in the neutral tone. Taiwan’s dictionary writes a full tone for words such as 朋友 (péng yǒu) and 喜歡 (xǐ huān), where Beijing speech lightens the second syllable. That group has its own page, Mandarin neutral tone: rules and Taiwan usage.
Accent is a separate question
These differences are standard readings, which means they are in dictionaries and textbooks. Accent is something else, and it varies by speaker. Widely described features of Taiwanese-accented Mandarin include softer retroflex sounds (zh, ch, sh closer to z, c, s), -eng and -ing often sounding like -en and -in, and less use of the neutral tone and of the erhua ending (兒化) than in Beijing. These are patterns in speech, not entries in the MOE dictionary. Two guides cover them, the retroflex consonants guide and the -n vs -ng and ü guide.
Which should you learn?
The practical answer depends on your goal:
- Living or studying in Taiwan: learn the MOE readings. They are what your textbook, teacher and tests use, and they are what you will hear in class and on the news.
- Mixed audience, or mainland materials: learn the Taiwan reading first, and add the mainland one as a recognition skill. Anyone who has studied both will understand you either way.
- Flashcards: pick one dictionary and keep it. If an app shows lājī and your Taiwanese teacher says lè sè, neither of you is wrong; you are looking at two standards.
Zhong’s audio is recorded by native Taiwanese speakers, so the readings you review are the Taiwan ones.
Related reading
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