Learn Chinese Characters

Pinyin Syllable

Chinese characters pronounced zou

Learn common Chinese characters pronounced zou, including 走 zǒu, 奏 zòu. Compare tones, meanings, traditional forms, words, and example sentences.

How to Pronounce This Syllable

For zou, start with the flat z and let it flow into ou, holding the tone over the joined syllable.

Initial z

Use a flat tongue. It is not English “z”.

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 (走 zǒu, 奏 zòu) and lock in their tones. 2 common characters share the sound zou, so lean on words to tell the rest apart.

Learn by Tone

zou turns up here with 2 different tones; a change of tone usually means a different character, so the groups below are split by tone.

3rd tone

Taking the 3rd tone here: 走 (1 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.

4th tone

Taking the 4th tone here: 奏 (1 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.

Common Words With This Sound

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

Characters

2 common characters in this group.