Pinyin Syllable
Chinese characters pronounced you
Learn common Chinese characters pronounced you, including 有 yǒu, 又 yòu, 由 yóu, 友 yǒu, 游 yóu. Compare tones, meanings, traditional forms, words…
How to Pronounce This Syllable
To say you, ease in through the y- glide, open into ou, and ride the tone across — one continuous sound.
Initial y
Start the syllable on the initial y, then run straight into the final ou — keep them joined instead of sounding out separate English letters.
Final ou
Settle the final ou into a steady mouth shape first, then lay the tone on top.
Study Tip
Start with the most common characters (有 yǒu, 又 yòu, 由 yóu, 友 yǒu, 游 yóu) and lock in their tones. 16 common characters share the sound you, so lean on words to tell the rest apart.
Learn by Tone
you 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: 优, 忧, 幽… (4 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
2nd tone
Taking the 2nd tone here: 由, 游, 油… (6 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
3rd tone
Taking the 3rd tone here: 有, 友 (2 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
4th tone
Taking the 4th tone here: 又, 右, 幼… (4 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
Common Words With This Sound
Seeing you inside whole words makes it clear which character is meant — here are common ones.
Characters
16 common characters in this group.