Pinyin Syllable
Chinese characters pronounced dao
Learn common Chinese characters pronounced dao, including 到 dào, 道 dào, 导 dǎo, 倒 dǎo / dào, 岛 dǎo. Compare tones, meanings, traditional forms, words…
How to Pronounce This Syllable
To say dao, lead with the initial d, then flow without a break into the final ao, holding the tone across the whole syllable.
Initial d
Start the syllable on the initial d, then run straight into the final ao — keep them joined instead of sounding out separate English letters.
Final ao
Settle the final ao into a steady mouth shape first, then lay the tone on top.
Study Tip
Start with the most common characters (到 dào, 道 dào, 导 dǎo, 倒 dǎo / dào, 岛 dǎo) and lock in their tones. 8 common characters share the sound dao, so lean on words to tell the rest apart.
Learn by Tone
dao turns up here with 3 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: 刀 (1 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
3rd tone
Taking the 3rd tone here: 导, 倒, 岛… (4 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
4th tone
Taking the 4th tone here: 到, 道, 盗 (3 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
Common Words With This Sound
Seeing dao inside whole words makes it clear which character is meant — here are common ones.
Characters
8 common characters in this group.