Pinyin Syllable
Chinese characters pronounced tiao
Learn common Chinese characters pronounced tiao, including 条 tiáo, 调 diào / tiáo, 跳 tiào, 挑 tiāo / tiǎo. Compare tones, meanings, traditional forms, words…
How to Pronounce This Syllable
tiao opens with a clear puff of air on t; let that breath lead into iao and settle the tone across the syllable.
Initial t
Start the syllable on the initial t, then run straight into the final iao — keep them joined instead of sounding out separate English letters.
Final iao
Settle the final iao into a steady mouth shape first, then lay the tone on top.
Study Tip
Start with the most common characters (条 tiáo, 调 diào / tiáo, 跳 tiào, 挑 tiāo / tiǎo) and lock in their tones. 4 common characters share the sound tiao, so lean on words to tell the rest apart.
Learn by Tone
tiao 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: 挑 (1 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
2nd tone
Taking the 2nd tone here: 条 (1 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
4th tone
Taking the 4th tone here: 调, 跳 (2 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
Common Words With This Sound
Seeing tiao inside whole words makes it clear which character is meant — here are common ones.
Characters
4 common characters in this group.