Pinyin Syllable
Chinese characters pronounced cu
Learn common Chinese characters pronounced cu, including 促 cù, 粗 cū. Compare tones, meanings, traditional forms, words, and example sentences.
How to Pronounce This Syllable
cu keeps the tongue flat behind the teeth for c (not curled), then glides into u; say it in one beat and ride the tone through.
Initial c
Flat tongue with strong aspiration.
Final u
Keep the lips rounded.
Study Tip
Start with the most common characters (促 cù, 粗 cū) and lock in their tones. 2 common characters share the sound cu, so lean on words to tell the rest apart.
Learn by Tone
cu 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: 粗 (1 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
4th tone
Taking the 4th tone here: 促 (1 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
Common Words With This Sound
Seeing cu inside whole words makes it clear which character is meant — here are common ones.
Characters
2 common characters in this group.