Pinyin Syllable
Chinese characters pronounced la
Learn common Chinese characters pronounced la, including 拉 lā, 落 luò / là, 蓝 lán / la, 啦 lā / la, 腊 là. Compare tones, meanings, traditional forms, words…
How to Pronounce This Syllable
la joins the initial l to the final a in one motion — say it as a single Mandarin beat with the tone over it, not as English letters in a row.
Initial l
Start the syllable on the initial l, then run straight into the final a — keep them joined instead of sounding out separate English letters.
Final a
Settle the final a into a steady mouth shape first, then lay the tone on top.
Study Tip
Start with the most common characters (拉 lā, 落 luò / là, 蓝 lán / la, 啦 lā / la, 腊 là) and lock in their tones. 6 common characters share the sound la, so lean on words to tell the rest apart.
Learn by Tone
la 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: 拉, 啦 (2 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
2nd tone
Taking the 2nd tone here: 蓝 (1 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
4th tone
Taking the 4th tone here: 落, 腊, 辣 (3 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
Common Words With This Sound
Seeing la inside whole words makes it clear which character is meant — here are common ones.
Characters
6 common characters in this group.