Pinyin Syllable

Chinese characters pronounced chu

Learn common Chinese characters pronounced chu, including 出 chū, 处 chǔ / chù, 除 chú, 初 chū, 楚 chǔ. Compare tones, meanings, traditional forms, words…

How to Pronounce This Syllable

For chu, curl the tongue back on ch and join it smoothly to u; keep it as a single syllable and hold the tone steady.

Initial ch

Like zh, but with a clear puff of air.

Final u

Keep the lips rounded.

Study Tip

Start with the most common characters (出 chū, 处 chǔ / chù, 除 chú, 初 chū, 楚 chǔ) and lock in their tones. 10 common characters share the sound chu, so lean on words to tell the rest apart.

Learn by Tone

chu 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: 出, 初 (2 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.

出chūto go out; to come out; to occur; to produce; to go beyond; to rise 初chūat first; (at the) beginning; first; junior; basic

2nd tone

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

除chúremove; do away with; wipe out; divide; except 厨chúkitchen

3rd tone

Taking the 3rd tone here: 处, 楚, 础… (4 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.

处chǔ / chùto reside; to live; to dwell; to be in; to stay; get along with 楚chǔ(surname); ancient place name; distinct; clear; orderly; pain 础chǔfoundation; base 储chǔsavings; to save; to deposit; to store; (a surname)

4th tone

Taking the 4th tone here: 触, 畜 (2 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.

触chùknock against; touch; to feel 畜chù / xùlivestock; domesticated animal; domestic animal; to raise (animals)

Common Words With This Sound

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

出来chū láito come out; to appear; to arise 出去chū qùto go out 出租车chū zū chētaxi; (Tw) rental car 到处dào chùeverywhere 好处hǎo chǔeasy to get along with 坏处huài chuharm; troubles 除了chú leapart from; besides; in addition to 除非chú fēionly if (..., or otherwise, ...); only when; only in the case that; unless 排除pái chúto eliminate; to remove; to exclude; to rule out 当初dāng chūat that time; originally

Characters

10 common characters in this group.

Character#1 出 chūto go out; to come out; to occur; to produce; to go beyond; to riseTraditional: 出 Character#2 处 chǔ / chùto reside; to live; to dwell; to be in; to stay; get along withTraditional: 處 Character#3 除 chúremove; do away with; wipe out; divide; exceptTraditional: 除 Character#4 初 chūat first; (at the) beginning; first; junior; basicTraditional: 初 Character#5 楚 chǔ(surname); ancient place name; distinct; clear; orderly; painTraditional: 楚 Character#6 础 chǔfoundation; baseTraditional: 礎 Character#7 触 chùknock against; touch; to feelTraditional: 觸 Character#8 储 chǔsavings; to save; to deposit; to store; (a surname)Traditional: 儲 Character#9 畜 chù / xùlivestock; domesticated animal; domestic animal; to raise (animals)Traditional: 畜 Character#10 厨 chúkitchenTraditional: 㕑