Pinyin Syllable

Chinese characters pronounced xiu

Learn common Chinese characters pronounced xiu, including 修 xiū, 休 xiū, 秀 xiù, 袖 xiù, 宿 sù / xiǔ / xiù. Compare tones, meanings, traditional forms, words…

How to Pronounce This Syllable

xiu raises the front of the tongue for x, then opens into iu; keep it light and joined, with the tone over the whole syllable.

Initial x

A light, forward hissing sound.

Final iu

Settle the final iu into a steady mouth shape first, then lay the tone on top.

Study Tip

Start with the most common characters (修 xiū, 休 xiū, 秀 xiù, 袖 xiù, 宿 sù / xiǔ / xiù) and lock in their tones. 8 common characters share the sound xiu, so lean on words to tell the rest apart.

Learn by Tone

xiu 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: 修, 休, 羞 (3 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.

修xiūto decorate; to embellish; to repair; to build; to study; to write 休xiūto rest 羞xiūshy; ashamed; shame; bashful

4th tone

Taking the 4th tone here: 秀, 袖, 宿… (5 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.

秀xiùhandsome; elegant 袖xiùsleeve 宿sù / xiǔ / xiùlodge for the night; old; former; (a) night; constellation 臭chòu / xiùstench; stink; smelly; to smell (bad); sense of smell; smell bad 绣xiùto embroider

Common Words With This Sound

Seeing xiu inside whole words makes it clear which character is meant — here are common ones.

修改xiū gǎito amend; to alter; to modify 装修zhuāng xiūto decorate; interior decoration; to fit up; to renovate 维修wéi xiūmaintenance (of equipment); to protect and maintain 休息xiū xirest; to rest 休假xiū jiàto go on vacation; to have a holiday; to take leave 退休tuì xiūto retire (from the workforce); to go into retirement 优秀yōu xiùoutstanding; excellent 秀丽xiù lìpretty; beautiful 秀美xiù měielegant; graceful 领袖lǐng xiùleader

Characters

8 common characters in this group.

Character#1 修 xiūto decorate; to embellish; to repair; to build; to study; to writeTraditional: 修 Character#2 休 xiūto restTraditional: 休 Character#3 秀 xiùhandsome; elegantTraditional: 秀 Character#4 袖 xiùsleeveTraditional: 袖 Character#5 宿 sù / xiǔ / xiùlodge for the night; old; former; (a) night; constellationTraditional: 㝛 Character#6 羞 xiūshy; ashamed; shame; bashfulTraditional: 羞 Character#7 臭 chòu / xiùstench; stink; smelly; to smell (bad); sense of smell; smell badTraditional: 臭 Character#8 绣 xiùto embroiderTraditional: 繡