How to say diao

diao in its 3 tones, said in a female or a male voice. Tap a tone to hear it.

diao

Tap a tone to hear it; tap it again to hear it slower.

Voice

How to say it

d: Like the t in “stop”: no puff of air. To an English ear it sounds close to d.

Its tones

diāo 雕 to carve · diǎo 鸟 penis · diào 掉 to fall. diáo isn’t used in standard Mandarin. The pinyin trainer practices telling them apart in real words.

Sounds near it

Learners often mix diao up with these. Listen to them one after the other.

tiao

Words with diao

掉diào(after a verb) away
调查diàocháinvestigation
调研diàoyánsurvey
强调qiángdiàoto emphasize
吊diàoto keep (someone) hanging
单调dāndiàomonotonous
调动diàodòngto transfer
钓鱼diàoyúto fish (with a line)
声调shēngdiàotone (of a syllable)
叼diāoto hold in the mouth
雕diāoeagle
调度diàodùto dispatch

The voices are generated speech (ElevenLabs), the same two the app’s word cards use, each tone said as one real word. The words are from the official HSK list (the exam’s 2025 syllabus), easiest first. Every syllable is on the pinyin chart.