Pinyin Syllable

Chinese characters pronounced cha

Learn common Chinese characters pronounced cha, including 查 chá / zhā, 察 chá, 差 chā / chà / chāi / cī, 茶 chá, 插 chā. Compare tones, meanings…

How to Pronounce This Syllable

cha begins with the tongue curled up and back for ch; let it slide straight into a and carry the tone across the whole sound, rather than spelling out English letters.

Initial ch

Like zh, but with a clear puff of air.

Final a

Settle the final a into a steady mouth shape first, then lay the tone on top.

Study Tip

Start with the most common characters (查 chá / zhā, 察 chá, 差 chā / chà / chāi / cī, 茶 chá, 插 chā) and lock in their tones. 7 common characters share the sound cha, so lean on words to tell the rest apart.

Learn by Tone

cha turns up here with 2 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: 差, 插, 叉… (4 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.

差chā / chà / chāi / cīdifference; discrepancy; to differ; error; to err; to make a mistake 插chāinsert; stick in; pierce; to take part in; to interfere; to interpose 叉chā / chá / chǎfork; pitchfork; prong; pick; cross; intersect 刹shā / chàBuddhist monastery or temple; a brief moment; to brake (car)

2nd tone

Taking the 2nd tone here: 查, 察, 茶 (3 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.

查chá / zhāto research; to check; to investigate; to examine; to refer to; to search 察cháexamine; inquire; observe; inspect; look into; to examine 茶chátea; tea plant

Common Words With This Sound

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

检查jiǎn cháinspection; to examine; to inspect 调查diào cháinvestigation; inquiry; to investigate; to survey 查看chá kànto look over; to examine; to check up; to ferret out 警察jǐng chápolice; police officer 观察guān cháto observe; to watch; to survey 考察kǎo cháto inspect; to observe and study; on-the-spot investigation 差不多chà bu duōalmost; nearly; more or less; about the same 出差chū chāito go on an official or business trip 差点儿chà diǎn rcolloquial (-r) form of 差点绿茶lǜ chágreen tea; (slang) (of a girl) seemingly innocent and charming but actually calculating and manipulative; a girl who has these qualities

Characters

7 common characters in this group.

Character#1 查 chá / zhāto research; to check; to investigate; to examine; to refer to; to searchTraditional: 查 Character#2 察 cháexamine; inquire; observe; inspect; look into; to examineTraditional: 察 Character#3 差 chā / chà / chāi / cīdifference; discrepancy; to differ; error; to err; to make a mistakeTraditional: 差 Character#4 茶 chátea; tea plantTraditional: 茶 Character#5 插 chāinsert; stick in; pierce; to take part in; to interfere; to interposeTraditional: 插 Character#6 叉 chā / chá / chǎfork; pitchfork; prong; pick; cross; intersectTraditional: 叉 Character#7 刹 shā / chàBuddhist monastery or temple; a brief moment; to brake (car)Traditional: 剎