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