Pinyin Syllable
Chinese characters pronounced diao
Learn common Chinese characters pronounced diao, including 调 diào / tiáo, 掉 diào, 雕 diāo, 吊 diào, 钓 diào. Compare tones, meanings, traditional forms, words…
How to Pronounce This Syllable
diao joins the initial d to the final iao 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 iao — keep them joined instead of sounding out separate English letters.
Final iao
Settle the final iao into a steady mouth shape first, then lay the tone on top.
Study Tip
Start with the most common characters (调 diào / tiáo, 掉 diào, 雕 diāo, 吊 diào, 钓 diào) and lock in their tones. 5 common characters share the sound diao, so lean on words to tell the rest apart.
Learn by Tone
diao 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: 雕 (1 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
4th tone
Taking the 4th tone here: 调, 掉, 吊… (4 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
Common Words With This Sound
Seeing diao inside whole words makes it clear which character is meant — here are common ones.
Characters
5 common characters in this group.