How to pronounce as a native speaker?

[Sreeni 5]

Is it successful or not?
Or Success or not success ?

Or Success or failure?

Or Task Completed or not completed?

[Demonic_Duck 1,383]

有没有成功

成不成功

成功还是失败

任务有没有完成

[Sreeni 5]

c should be pronounced as in caTS
 

青瓷 qīngcí

瓷 cí

I am using Pleco Dictionary but when cí in qīngcí is pronounced like S in it and can not hear T but only S. 

 

Can you differentiate ts and s?
 

 

 

[Demonic_Duck 1,383]

Yes, pinyin "s" and "c" are different. I'm not aware of any dialects where they're merged, nor words where they're used in free variation. In contrast, s~sh and c~ch are sometimes merged.

 

So you might occasionally hear speakers of some dialects pronounce 青瓷 more like qīngchí, but never qīngsí.

 

If you're listening to one of Pleco's TTS add-ons, bear in mind TTS-generated audio will never be exactly the same as a speaker pronouncing the full word or sentence. Try 陶瓷 for comparison (might need the extended audio add-on, not sure).