Pinyin chart · gou

How to say gou

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

gou

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

Voice

How to say it

g: Like the k in “skin”: no puff of air. To an English ear it sounds close to the g in “go”.

ou: ou is close to the “oh” of “go”.

Its tones

gōu 沟 ditch · gǒu 狗 dog · gòu 够 enough. góu isn’t used in standard Mandarin. The pinyin trainer practices telling them apart in real words.

Sounds near it

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

Words with gou

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.