Sound families
Most Chinese characters are built from two parts: a meaning part that hints at what the word is about, and a sound part that hints at how it is pronounced. Characters that share a sound part form a family — learn the family and you can often guess how a new character sounds.
- Big red character — the shared sound part
- Grey note — the meaning part that tells family members apart
- Exact match same sound and tone
- Tone change same sound, different tone
- Different sound the sound itself shifts
-
青
qīng family
青 means “blue-green”. Its sound carries into words about water, feelings, speech, weather and eyes.
- 清qīngclear氵 waterExact match
- 情qíngfeeling忄 heartTone change
- 请qǐngplease; to invite讠 speechTone change
- 晴qíngsunny; clear sky日 sunTone change
- 睛jīngeyeball目 eyeDifferent sound
-
包
bāo family
包 means “to wrap”. Swap the meaning part and you get hugging, running, being full and bubbles.
- 抱bàoto hug; to hold扌 handTone change
- 跑pǎoto run⻊ footDifferent sound
- 饱bǎofull (after eating)饣 foodTone change
- 泡pàobubble; to soak氵 waterDifferent sound
- 炮pàocannon; firecracker火 fireDifferent sound
-
马
mǎ family
马 means “horse”, but in these characters it only lends its sound.
- 妈māmum女 womanTone change
- 吗maquestion particle口 mouthTone change
- 码mǎnumber; code石 stoneExact match
- 蚂mǎant (in 蚂蚁)虫 insectExact match
- 骂màto scold口口 two mouthsTone change
-
方
fāng family
方 means “square; direction”. Every member keeps the f-ang sound.
- 房fánghouse; room户 doorTone change
- 放fàngto put; to let go攵 hand with stickTone change
- 访fǎngto visit讠 speechTone change
- 芳fāngfragrant艹 grassExact match
- 纺fǎngto spin thread纟 silkTone change
-
中
zhōng family
中 means “middle”. Add a heart and you get loyalty; add flesh and you get a swelling.
- 钟zhōngclock; bell钅 metalExact match
- 忠zhōngloyal心 heartExact match
- 种zhǒngkind; type; seed禾 grainTone change
- 肿zhǒngswollen月 fleshTone change
How far can you trust a sound part?
- The tone often changes — 青 qīng becomes 请 qǐng and 情 qíng.
- The first sound can shift to a close relative — 包 bāo gives 跑 pǎo, and 青 qīng gives 睛 jīng.
- Each character's badge shows how closely it follows its sound part. Across these families, 6 are exact matches, 14 change only the tone and 4 sound different — close enough to guess, not to rely on.
- Treat the sound part as a strong hint, then check the real pronunciation the first time you meet a character.
- Family members can look almost the same — 晴 sunny and 睛 eyeball differ only by 日 and 目. See them side by side with other look-alikes.
- Tap any character to watch it being built — every character you explore goes into your review deck, so the sound sticks.