Pinyin Syllable
Chinese characters pronounced tu
Learn common Chinese characters pronounced tu, including 图 tú, 突 tū, 土 tǔ, 徒 tú, 途 tú. Compare tones, meanings, traditional forms, words…
How to Pronounce This Syllable
For tu, push a small puff of air on t, join it to u, and hold the tone over the whole syllable.
Initial t
Start the syllable on the initial t, 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 (图 tú, 突 tū, 土 tǔ, 徒 tú, 途 tú) and lock in their tones. 9 common characters share the sound tu, so lean on words to tell the rest apart.
Learn by Tone
tu 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: 突 (1 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
2nd tone
Taking the 2nd tone here: 图, 徒, 途… (5 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
3rd tone
Taking the 3rd tone here: 土, 吐 (2 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
4th tone
Taking the 4th tone here: 兔 (1 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
Common Words With This Sound
Seeing tu inside whole words makes it clear which character is meant — here are common ones.
Characters
9 common characters in this group.