Tough sounds -ou-uo

The "ou" and "-uo" vowel sounds aren't difficult, but they're easy to mix up. Practice the following words and phrases to be sure that you've got a good handle on these tough sounds.

Pronunciation Tips for -ou-uo (A2)

Read about the "o" and "u" vowels if you need the review.

The pinyin "-ou" final is very similar to the "oh" sound in English. You can think of it as replacing the pinyin "u" with a "h" to get the English syllable "oh".

The "-uo" sound is actually the same as the Chinese syllable "wo." You're just replacing the "u" with a "w" for the syllable "wo."

Tough Sound Words: -ou-uo (A2)

The words in the following table are designed to give you a good pronunciation workout. Practice them on your own and practice them with your teacher.

Audio	Chinese	Pinyin	English
duo1	多	duō	many, much
zuo4	做	zuò	to do; to make
cuo4	错	cuò	mistake, fault
shuo1	说	shuō	to speak, to say
guo4	过	guò	to pass, to spend
dou1	都	dōu	all
zou3	走	zǒu	to walk, to leave
zhou1	周	zhōu	week
gou3	狗	gǒu	dog
rou4	肉	ròu	meat, flesh

If these are too easy for you, don't forget that we also have these same sounds at a more challenging intermediate (B1) level.

Sources and further reading

More sources and other links coming soon...

A2 pronunciation points