Learn Chinese Characters

Pinyin Syllable

Chinese characters pronounced dian

Learn common Chinese characters pronounced dian, including 点 diǎn, 电 diàn, 店 diàn, 典 diǎn, 殿 diàn. Compare tones, meanings, traditional forms, words…

How to Pronounce This Syllable

To say dian, lead with the initial d, then flow without a break into the final ian, holding the tone across the whole syllable.

Initial d

Start the syllable on the initial d, then run straight into the final ian — keep them joined instead of sounding out separate English letters.

Final ian

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

Study Tip

Start with the most common characters (点 diǎn, 电 diàn, 店 diàn, 典 diǎn, 殿 diàn) and lock in their tones. 6 common characters share the sound dian, so lean on words to tell the rest apart.

Learn by Tone

dian 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: 颠 (1 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.

3rd tone

Taking the 3rd tone here: 点, 典 (2 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.

4th tone

Taking the 4th tone here: 电, 店, 殿 (3 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.

Common Words With This Sound

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

Characters

6 common characters in this group.