Pinyin chart · zhou
How to say zhou
zhou in all four tones, said in a female or a male voice. Tap a tone to hear it.
zhou
Tap a tone to hear it; tap it again to hear it slower.
How to say it
zh: The tongue tip curls up behind the ridge above the top teeth: like the j in “jug” said with the tongue further back, with no puff of air.
ou: ou is close to the “oh” of “go”.
Its tones
zhōu 周 week · zhóu 轴 axle · zhǒu 肘 elbow · zhòu 皱 wrinkle. The pinyin trainer practices telling them apart in real words.
Sounds near it
Learners often mix zhou up with these. Listen to them one after the other.
Words with zhou
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.