Pinyin Syllable

Chinese characters pronounced ceng

Learn common Chinese characters pronounced ceng, including 曾 céng / zēng, 层 céng. Compare tones, meanings, traditional forms, words, and example sentences.

How to Pronounce This Syllable

For ceng, start with the flat c and let it flow into eng, holding the tone over the joined syllable.

Initial c

Flat tongue with strong aspiration.

Final eng

eng is farther back than en.

Study Tip

Start with the most common characters (曾 céng / zēng, 层 céng) and lock in their tones. 2 common characters share the sound ceng, so lean on words to tell the rest apart.

Learn by Tone

ceng turns up here with 1 different tone; a change of tone usually means a different character, so the groups below are split by tone.

2nd tone

Taking the 2nd tone here: 曾, 层 (2 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.

曾céng / zēng(refers to something that happened previously); already; at some time in the past; before; once; (surname)层cénga measure word for layers; laminated; repeated; floor; story (of a building); layer

Common Words With This Sound

Seeing ceng inside whole words makes it clear which character is meant — here are common ones.

曾经céng jīngonce; already; former; previously 不曾bù cénghasn't yet; hasn't ever 似曾相识sì céng xiāng shídéjà vu (the experience of seeing exactly the same situation a second time); seemingly familiar; apparently already acquainted 层次céng cìlayer; level; gradation; arrangement of ideas 高层gāo cénghigh-rise; high level; high class 层面céng miànaspect; facet; level (political, psychological, spiritual etc); (geology) bedding plane

Characters

2 common characters in this group.

Character#1 曾 céng / zēng(refers to something that happened previously); already; at some time in the past; before; once; (surname)Traditional: 曾 Character#2 层 cénga measure word for layers; laminated; repeated; floor; story (of a building); layerTraditional: 層