Pinyin Syllable
Chinese characters pronounced tao
Learn common Chinese characters pronounced tao, including 讨 tǎo, 逃 táo, 套 tào, 陶 táo, 桃 táo. Compare tones, meanings, traditional forms, words…
How to Pronounce This Syllable
tao opens with a clear puff of air on t; let that breath lead into ao and settle the tone across the syllable.
Initial t
Start the syllable on the initial t, 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 (讨 tǎo, 逃 táo, 套 tào, 陶 táo, 桃 táo) and lock in their tones. 9 common characters share the sound tao, so lean on words to tell the rest apart.
Learn by Tone
tao 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: 涛, 掏 (2 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
2nd tone
Taking the 2nd tone here: 逃, 陶, 桃… (5 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
3rd tone
Taking the 3rd tone here: 讨 (1 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
4th tone
Taking the 4th tone here: 套 (1 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
Common Words With This Sound
Seeing tao inside whole words makes it clear which character is meant — here are common ones.
Characters
9 common characters in this group.