Pinyin Syllable
Chinese characters pronounced du
Learn common Chinese characters pronounced du, including 都 dōu / dū, 度 dù, 独 dú, 读 dú / dòu, 督 dū. Compare tones, meanings, traditional forms, words…
How to Pronounce This Syllable
du joins the initial d to the final u 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 u — keep them joined instead of sounding out separate English letters.
Final u
Keep the lips rounded.
Study Tip
Start with the most common characters (都 dōu / dū, 度 dù, 独 dú, 读 dú / dòu, 督 dū) and lock in their tones. 11 common characters share the sound du, so lean on words to tell the rest apart.
Learn by Tone
du turns up here with 4 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: 都, 督 (2 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
2nd tone
Taking the 2nd tone here: 独, 读, 毒 (3 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
3rd tone
Taking the 3rd tone here: 肚, 赌, 堵 (3 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
4th tone
Taking the 4th tone here: 度, 杜, 渡 (3 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
Common Words With This Sound
Seeing du inside whole words makes it clear which character is meant — here are common ones.
Characters
11 common characters in this group.