Pinyin Syllable
Chinese characters pronounced ma
Learn common Chinese characters pronounced ma, including 么 ma / me / yāo, 马 mǎ, 吗 mǎ / ma, 妈 mā, 麻 má. Compare tones, meanings, traditional forms, words…
How to Pronounce This Syllable
Build ma by sliding from m straight into a; the tone rides over the joined sound, so treat it as one unit.
Initial m
Start the syllable on the initial m, 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 (么 ma / me / yāo, 马 mǎ, 吗 mǎ / ma, 妈 mā, 麻 má) and lock in their tones. 9 common characters share the sound ma, so lean on words to tell the rest apart.
Learn by Tone
ma turns up here with 5 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: 妈 (1 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
2nd tone
Taking the 2nd tone here: 麻 (1 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
3rd tone
Taking the 3rd tone here: 马, 吗, 玛… (4 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
4th tone
Taking the 4th tone here: 骂 (1 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
5
Taking the 5 here: 么, 嘛 (2 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
Common Words With This Sound
Seeing ma inside whole words makes it clear which character is meant — here are common ones.
Characters
9 common characters in this group.