Pinyin Syllable
Chinese characters pronounced de
Learn common Chinese characters pronounced de, including 的 de / dí / dì, 地 de, 得 de, 德 dé, 底 de / dǐ. Compare tones, meanings, traditional forms, words…
How to Pronounce This Syllable
de joins the initial d to the final e in one motion — say it as a single Mandarin beat with the tone over it, not as English letters in a row.
Initial d
Start the syllable on the initial d, then run straight into the final e — keep them joined instead of sounding out separate English letters.
Final e
Settle the final e into a steady mouth shape first, then lay the tone on top.
Study Tip
Start with the most common characters (的 de / dí / dì, 地 de, 得 de, 德 dé, 底 de / dǐ) and lock in their tones. 5 common characters share the sound de, so lean on words to tell the rest apart.
Learn by Tone
de turns up here with 2 different tones; a change of tone usually means a different character, so the groups below are split by tone.
2nd tone
Taking the 2nd tone here: 德 (1 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
5
Taking the 5 here: 的, 地, 得… (4 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
Common Words With This Sound
Seeing de inside whole words makes it clear which character is meant — here are common ones.
Characters
5 common characters in this group.