Pinyin chart · xiu
How to say xiu
xiu in its 3 tones, said in a female or a male voice. Tap a tone to hear it.
xiu
Tap a tone to hear it; tap it again to hear it slower.
How to say it
x: Between s and sh: the tongue tip rests behind the lower teeth and the lips stay spread, like a soft “sh”.
iou: Written iu after a consonant (liu, jiu): a short o is said between the i and the u, most clearly in the third and fourth tones.
Its tones
xiū 修 to repair · xiǔ 朽 rotten · xiù 秀 elegant. xiú isn’t used in standard Mandarin. The pinyin trainer practices telling them apart in real words.
Spelling
- iou is written iu after a consonant.
Sounds near it
Learners often mix xiu up with these. Listen to them one after the other.
Words with xiu
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.