Pinyin Syllable
Chinese characters pronounced pi
Learn common Chinese characters pronounced pi, including 批 pī, 否 fǒu / pǐ, 皮 pí, 疲 pí, 匹 pī / pǐ. Compare tones, meanings, traditional forms, words…
How to Pronounce This Syllable
To say pi, release air on the aspirated p, glide into i, and ride the tone — keep it joined as one sound.
Initial p
Start the syllable on the initial p, then run straight into the final i — keep them joined instead of sounding out separate English letters.
Final i
After zh, ch, sh, r, z, c, s, this i is not the clear “ee” in see.
Study Tip
Start with the most common characters (批 pī, 否 fǒu / pǐ, 皮 pí, 疲 pí, 匹 pī / pǐ) and lock in their tones. 11 common characters share the sound pi, so lean on words to tell the rest apart.
Learn by Tone
pi turns up here with 4 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: 批, 匹, 披… (4 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
2nd tone
Taking the 2nd tone here: 皮, 疲, 脾 (3 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
3rd tone
Taking the 3rd tone here: 否 (1 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
4th tone
Taking the 4th tone here: 辟, 屁, 譬 (3 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
Common Words With This Sound
Seeing pi inside whole words makes it clear which character is meant — here are common ones.
Characters
11 common characters in this group.