Pinyin Syllable
Chinese characters pronounced bo
Learn common Chinese characters pronounced bo, including 波 bō, 伯 bó, 博 bó, 播 bō, 薄 bó / bò / báo. Compare tones, meanings, traditional forms, words…
How to Pronounce This Syllable
bo joins the initial b to the final o in one motion — say it as a single Mandarin beat with the tone over it, not as English letters in a row.
Initial b
Start the syllable on the initial b, then run straight into the final o — keep them joined instead of sounding out separate English letters.
Final o
Settle the final o into a steady mouth shape first, then lay the tone on top.
Study Tip
Start with the most common characters (波 bō, 伯 bó, 博 bó, 播 bō, 薄 bó / bò / báo) and lock in their tones. 17 common characters share the sound bo, so lean on words to tell the rest apart.
Learn by Tone
bo turns up here with 4 different tones; a change of tone usually means a different character, so the groups below are split by tone.
1st tone
Taking the 1st tone here: 波, 播, 玻… (5 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
2nd tone
Taking the 2nd tone here: 伯, 博, 薄… (10 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
3rd tone
Taking the 3rd tone here: 柏 (1 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
5
Taking the 5 here: 卜 (1 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
Common Words With This Sound
Seeing bo inside whole words makes it clear which character is meant — here are common ones.
Characters
17 common characters in this group.