Pinyin Syllable
Chinese characters pronounced que
Learn common Chinese characters pronounced que, including 却 què, 确 què, 缺 quē, 雀 què / qiāo / qiǎo. Compare tones, meanings, traditional forms, words…
How to Pronounce This Syllable
To say que, lead with the forward, palatal q, slide into ue, and place the tone on top — one smooth piece.
Initial q
Like j, but aspirated.
Final ue
Settle the final ue into a steady mouth shape first, then lay the tone on top.
Study Tip
Start with the most common characters (却 què, 确 què, 缺 quē, 雀 què / qiāo / qiǎo) and lock in their tones. 4 common characters share the sound que, so lean on words to tell the rest apart.
Learn by Tone
que turns up here with 2 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: 缺 (1 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
4th tone
Taking the 4th tone here: 却, 确, 雀 (3 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
Common Words With This Sound
Seeing que inside whole words makes it clear which character is meant — here are common ones.
Characters
4 common characters in this group.