Pinyin Syllable
Chinese characters pronounced nu
Learn common Chinese characters pronounced nu, including 女 nǚ / nǚ, 努 nǔ, 怒 nù, 奴 nú. Compare tones, meanings, traditional forms, words…
How to Pronounce This Syllable
For nu, start on n and let it run into u without pausing; keep the mouth moving and hold the tone to the end.
Initial n
Start the syllable on the initial n, then run straight into the final u — keep them joined instead of sounding out separate English letters.
Final u
Keep the lips rounded.
Study Tip
Start with the most common characters (女 nǚ / nǚ, 努 nǔ, 怒 nù, 奴 nú) and lock in their tones. 4 common characters share the sound nu, so lean on words to tell the rest apart.
Learn by Tone
nu 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: 奴 (1 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
3rd tone
Taking the 3rd tone here: 女, 努 (2 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
4th tone
Taking the 4th tone here: 怒 (1 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
Common Words With This Sound
Seeing nu inside whole words makes it clear which character is meant — here are common ones.
Characters
4 common characters in this group.