Pinyin Syllable
Chinese characters pronounced yao
Learn common Chinese characters pronounced yao, including 要 yào, 么 ma / me / yāo, 约 yuē / yāo, 药 yào, 摇 yáo. Compare tones, meanings, traditional forms…
How to Pronounce This Syllable
For yao, let the y- glide flow into ao without a break, holding the tone over the joined syllable.
Initial y
Start the syllable on the initial y, 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 (要 yào, 么 ma / me / yāo, 约 yuē / yāo, 药 yào, 摇 yáo) and lock in their tones. 14 common characters share the sound yao, so lean on words to tell the rest apart.
Learn by Tone
yao turns up here with 5 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: 约, 腰, 邀… (4 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
2nd tone
Taking the 2nd tone here: 摇, 遥, 姚… (4 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
3rd tone
Taking the 3rd tone here: 咬 (1 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
4th tone
Taking the 4th tone here: 要, 药, 耀… (4 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
5
Taking the 5 here: 么 (1 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
Common Words With This Sound
Seeing yao inside whole words makes it clear which character is meant — here are common ones.
Characters
14 common characters in this group.