Pinyin Syllable
Chinese characters pronounced kao
Learn common Chinese characters pronounced kao, including 考 kǎo, 靠 kào. Compare tones, meanings, traditional forms, words, and example sentences.
How to Pronounce This Syllable
kao opens with a clear puff of air on k; let that breath lead into ao and settle the tone across the syllable.
Initial k
Start the syllable on the initial k, then run straight into the final ao — keep them joined instead of sounding out separate English letters.
Final ao
Settle the final ao into a steady mouth shape first, then lay the tone on top.
Study Tip
Start with the most common characters (考 kǎo, 靠 kào) and lock in their tones. 2 common characters share the sound kao, so lean on words to tell the rest apart.
Learn by Tone
kao turns up here with 2 different tones; a change of tone usually means a different character, so the groups below are split by tone.
3rd tone
Taking the 3rd tone here: 考 (1 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
4th tone
Taking the 4th tone here: 靠 (1 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
Common Words With This Sound
Seeing kao inside whole words makes it clear which character is meant — here are common ones.
Characters
2 common characters in this group.