Pinyin Syllable
Chinese characters pronounced lao
Learn common Chinese characters pronounced lao, including 老 lǎo, 劳 láo, 络 luò / lào, 牢 láo. Compare tones, meanings, traditional forms, words…
How to Pronounce This Syllable
To say lao, lead with the initial l, then flow without a break into the final ao, holding the tone across the whole syllable.
Initial l
Start the syllable on the initial l, 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 (老 lǎo, 劳 láo, 络 luò / lào, 牢 láo) and lock in their tones. 4 common characters share the sound lao, so lean on words to tell the rest apart.
Learn by Tone
lao turns up here with 3 different tones; a change of tone usually means a different character, so the groups below are split by tone.
2nd tone
Taking the 2nd tone here: 劳, 牢 (2 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
3rd tone
Taking the 3rd tone here: 老 (1 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
4th tone
Taking the 4th tone here: 络 (1 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
Common Words With This Sound
Seeing lao inside whole words makes it clear which character is meant — here are common ones.
Characters
4 common characters in this group.