Pronunciation family
Chinese characters for “lao”
27 characters share this plain syllable. Compare tone marks first, then open a character for writing and usage.
Tone by tone
Separate the sound family before memorizing characters
The same letters can represent different words when the tone changes.
1
First tone
lāo
2
Second tone
láo
牢
láo
劳pen, prison, stable
7 strokes · HSK 3.0 L6láo
唠to labor, to toil
7 strokesláo
崂to chat, to gossip, to jaw, to talk
10 strokesláo
勞Laoshan, a mountain in Shandong
10 strokesláo
痨to labor, to toil
12 strokesláo
铹tuberculosis
12 strokesláo
嘮lawrencium
12 strokesláo
嶗to chat, to gossip, to jaw, to talk
15 strokesláo
癆Laoshan, a mountain in Shandong
15 strokesláo
醪tuberculosis
17 strokesláo
unfiltered wine
18 strokes3
Third tone
lǎo
4
Fourth tone
lào
Sound in context
Words using this pronunciation family
Move from isolated sounds into useful vocabulary.
老师lǎoshī
teacher
老lǎoprefix used before the surname of a person or a numeral indicating the order of birth of the children in a family or to indicate affection or familiarity
老人lǎorénold man or woman
老虎lǎohǔtiger
老家lǎojiānative place
老年lǎoniánelderly
老是lǎoshìalways
古老gǔlǎoancient
劳动láodòngwork
老百姓lǎobǎixìngordinary people