Learn Chinese Characters

Pinyin Syllable

Chinese characters pronounced lian

Learn common Chinese characters pronounced lian, including 联 lián, 连 lián, 脸 liǎn, 练 liàn, 恋 liàn. Compare tones, meanings, traditional forms, words…

How to Pronounce This Syllable

To say lian, lead with the initial l, then flow without a break into the final ian, holding the tone across the whole syllable.

Initial l

Start the syllable on the initial l, then run straight into the final ian — keep them joined instead of sounding out separate English letters.

Final ian

Settle the final ian into a steady mouth shape first, then lay the tone on top.

Study Tip

Start with the most common characters (联 lián, 连 lián, 脸 liǎn, 练 liàn, 恋 liàn) and lock in their tones. 11 common characters share the sound lian, so lean on words to tell the rest apart.

Learn by Tone

lian 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: 联, 连, 怜… (6 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.

3rd tone

Taking the 3rd tone here: 脸 (1 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.

4th tone

Taking the 4th tone here: 练, 恋, 炼… (4 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.

Common Words With This Sound

Seeing lian inside whole words makes it clear which character is meant — here are common ones.

Characters

11 common characters in this group.