Pinyin Syllable
Chinese characters pronounced duan
Learn common Chinese characters pronounced duan, including 断 duàn, 段 duàn, 短 duǎn, 端 duān. Compare tones, meanings, traditional forms, words…
How to Pronounce This Syllable
To say duan, lead with the initial d, then flow without a break into the final uan, holding the tone across the whole syllable.
Initial d
Start the syllable on the initial d, then run straight into the final uan — keep them joined instead of sounding out separate English letters.
Final uan
Settle the final uan into a steady mouth shape first, then lay the tone on top.
Study Tip
Start with the most common characters (断 duàn, 段 duàn, 短 duǎn, 端 duān) and lock in their tones. 4 common characters share the sound duan, so lean on words to tell the rest apart.
Learn by Tone
duan 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: 端 (1 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
3rd tone
Taking the 3rd tone here: 短 (1 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
4th tone
Taking the 4th tone here: 断, 段 (2 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
Common Words With This Sound
Seeing duan inside whole words makes it clear which character is meant — here are common ones.
Characters
4 common characters in this group.