Pinyin Syllable
Chinese characters pronounced kun
Learn common Chinese characters pronounced kun, including 困 kǔn / kùn, 昆 kūn. Compare tones, meanings, traditional forms, words, and example sentences.
How to Pronounce This Syllable
To say kun, release air on the aspirated k, glide into un, and ride the tone — keep it joined as one sound.
Initial k
Start the syllable on the initial k, then run straight into the final un — keep them joined instead of sounding out separate English letters.
Final un
Settle the final un into a steady mouth shape first, then lay the tone on top.
Study Tip
Start with the most common characters (困 kǔn / kùn, 昆 kūn) and lock in their tones. 2 common characters share the sound kun, so lean on words to tell the rest apart.
Learn by Tone
kun turns up here with 2 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: 昆 (1 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
3rd tone
Taking the 3rd tone here: 困 (1 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
Common Words With This Sound
Seeing kun inside whole words makes it clear which character is meant — here are common ones.
Characters
2 common characters in this group.