Pinyin Syllable
Chinese characters pronounced mao
Learn common Chinese characters pronounced mao, including 毛 máo, 贸 mào, 冒 mào, 矛 máo, 貌 mào. Compare tones, meanings, traditional forms, words…
How to Pronounce This Syllable
mao joins the initial m to the final ao in one motion — say it as a single Mandarin beat with the tone over it, not as English letters in a row.
Initial m
Start the syllable on the initial m, 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 (毛 máo, 贸 mào, 冒 mào, 矛 máo, 貌 mào) and lock in their tones. 9 common characters share the sound mao, so lean on words to tell the rest apart.
Learn by Tone
mao 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: 猫 (1 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
2nd tone
Taking the 2nd tone here: 毛, 矛, 茅 (3 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
4th tone
Taking the 4th tone here: 贸, 冒, 貌… (5 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
Common Words With This Sound
Seeing mao inside whole words makes it clear which character is meant — here are common ones.
Characters
9 common characters in this group.