How to pronounce xiao jie (小姐) in Chinese

Hear 小姐 (xiǎo jie) spoken, see what it means, then record yourself for instant AI feedback on your pronunciation.

小姐

xiǎo jie

Characters & meanings

xiǎoT3

small; tiny

jieT0

older sister

Common mistake

The x- is palatal (tongue tip down, light "sh"), and the word is built from two third tones — in careful speech that triggers sandhi, in casual speech jie just goes neutral.

Tone change in this word

Underlying third + third: pronounced fully it becomes xiáojiě by third-tone sandhi; in everyday speech 姐 reduces to neutral (xiǎojie).

Example sentence

王小姐是老师。

Wáng xiǎojie shì lǎoshī.

Miss Wang is a teacher.

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