Pinyin Syllable

Chinese characters pronounced jiu

Learn common Chinese characters pronounced jiu, including 就 jiù, 究 jiū, 九 jiǔ, 久 jiǔ, 酒 jiǔ. Compare tones, meanings, traditional forms, words…

How to Pronounce This Syllable

To say jiu, lead with the forward, palatal j, slide into iu, and place the tone on top — one smooth piece.

Initial j

The tongue is high and forward. Do not add an English “d” sound.

Final iu

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

Study Tip

Start with the most common characters (就 jiù, 究 jiū, 九 jiǔ, 久 jiǔ, 酒 jiǔ) and lock in their tones. 9 common characters share the sound jiu, so lean on words to tell the rest apart.

Learn by Tone

jiu 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: 究, 纠 (2 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.

究jiūafter all; to investigate; to study carefully 纠jiūgather together; to investigate; to entangle; correct

3rd tone

Taking the 3rd tone here: 九, 久, 酒 (3 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.

九jiǔnine; 9 久jiǔ(long) time; (long) duration of time 酒jiǔwine; liquor; spirits

4th tone

Taking the 4th tone here: 就, 救, 旧… (4 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.

就jiùat once; then; right away; only; (emphasis); to approach 救jiùto save; to assist; to rescue 旧jiùold (opposite of new); former 舅jiùmaternal uncle

Common Words With This Sound

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

就要jiù yàowill; shall; to be going to 早就zǎo jiùalready at an earlier time 就是jiù shìexactly; precisely; only; simply 研究yán jiūresearch; a study; to research; to look into 究竟jiū jìngto go to the bottom of a matter; after all; when all is said and done; (in an interrogative sentence) finally 研究生yán jiū shēnggraduate student; postgraduate student; research student 九成jiǔ chéngnine-tenths; ninety percent 九天jiǔ tiānthe ninth heaven; the highest of the heavens 九十jiǔ shíninety 多久duō jiǔ(of time) how long?; (not) a long time

Characters

9 common characters in this group.

Character#1 就 jiùat once; then; right away; only; (emphasis); to approachTraditional: 就 Character#2 究 jiūafter all; to investigate; to study carefullyTraditional: 究 Character#3 九 jiǔnine; 9Traditional: 九 Character#4 久 jiǔ(long) time; (long) duration of timeTraditional: 久 Character#5 酒 jiǔwine; liquor; spiritsTraditional: 酒 Character#6 救 jiùto save; to assist; to rescueTraditional: 救 Character#7 旧 jiùold (opposite of new); formerTraditional: 舊 Character#8 纠 jiūgather together; to investigate; to entangle; correctTraditional: 糺 Character#9 舅 jiùmaternal uncleTraditional: 舅