哈囉，大家好！ 哈啰，大家好！ Hello everyone!
I’m Grace.
Have you ever wondered
why this character is sometimes pronounced as “liao3”,
and other times it’s pronounced as “le”?
In this video, I’ll explain why certain Chinese characters
have more than one pronunciation.
我會解釋為什麼我們會有多音字。 我会解释为什么我们会有多音字。
And also I’ll introduce 5 common Chinese characters that have this feature
5個多音字 5个多音字
and offer tips on how to use the correct pronunciation!
那我們開始吧！ 那我们开始吧！
There is actually more than one reason
why certain Chinese characters have more than one sound.
For example, it might be from Chinese characters being simplified
so that two different Chinese characters are combined into one,
like the traditional character 彆 (bie4) is simplified into 別 (bie2),
so 別 (this character) began to have two different sounds.
Or it might have evolved over time to have multiple pronunciations.
In ancient times, Chinese words were usually formed with just one character.
And when a word appeared in different contexts
or with different grammatical structures,
its meaning or part of speech could change.
But it would be confusing if they all looked and sounded the same
but had different meanings or different parts of speech, right?
So to better differentiate them, their sounds might have been changed.
For instance, as a noun, this character is pronounced as zhong3.
As a verb, it’s pronounced as zhong4.
Actually, it’s pretty similar to some English words,
like this word being pronounced as “AD-dress” when it’s a noun
but pronounced as “ad-DRESS” when it’s a verb.
They look the same,
but we just differentiate their meanings or parts of speech
depending on their pronunciation.
So with these characters, to decide which sound to use,
you need to pay attention to their meaning and position in the sentence.
OK, now I’m gonna tell you 5 common Chinese characters that have this feature
5個多音字 and how to differentiate them.
Let’s go!
This character has two pronunciations, “le” and “liao3”.
When this character is used as a particle added after a verb or a sentence,
it’s pronounced as “le”.
For example:
However, it’s pronounced as “liao3” when it has the following meanings:
Ok, now let’s think about how to say the following sentence:
Here, the first one is combined with “不”
to indicate that the action is impossible to realize, so it should be “liao3”.
And then the second one is used as a particle
added at the end of a sentence, so it should be “le”.
OK, now let’s move on to the next 多音字:
This character has three different pronunciations: “de”, “de2” and “dei3”
When it’s used as a particle added after a verb or an adjective,
it’s pronounced as “de”.
Like, 跑得很快 run very fast.
But when this character has the meaning of “get” or “obtain”,
it’s pronounced as “de2”. For instance,
And it’s pronounced as “dei3” when it means “have to, must” or “need to”.
For example,
So, how would you say this sentence?
The first one means “have to, must”
so it should be dei3.
And the second one is added after a verb as a particle, so it’s “de”.
The last one, 取得冠軍（取得冠军） is to win the first place,
so the “得” in “取得” has the meaning of “get” or “obtain”.
It should be pronounced as “de2”.
OK, the next one is:
You probably pronounce this as “hai2”, right?
That’s correct, because most of the time when you see this character,
it’s pronounced as “hai2”.
But when this character has the meaning of “return”,
it should be pronounced as “huan2”. For instance,
So this one is simpler.
You just have to remember that when it means “return”,
it’s not “hai2”, it’s “huan2”.
Now, try to say this sentence:
OK, the forth 多音字 is
It has two common pronunciations, “chang2” and “zhang3”.
It’s pronounced as “chang2” when it means “long” or “length”, like
Or when it has the meanings of “be good at” or “adept”,
it’s also pronounced as “chang2”, like
However, this character is pronounced as “zhang3”
when it has the meaning of “grow”. For example,
On top of this,
when this character has something to do with “elders, older people”
or “a certain position”, it’s also pronounced as “zhang3”.
For instance,
OK, now let’s think about how we should say this sentence:
OK, the last 多音字 for today is
You must be familiar with its pronunciation “hao3”,
but actually when this character has the meaning of
“like”, “love”, or “be interested in”,
it’s pronounced as “hao4”.
For instance,
Now let’s think about how to say this sentence:
OK, that’s all for today!
Let me know in the comments
if you’ve ever been confused about how to pronounce these words.
還有，如果你覺得今天的影片對你有幫助， 还有，如果你觉得今天的影片对你有帮助， And if you found today’s video helpful for you,
記得幫我按讚、訂閱和分享哦！ 记得帮我按赞、订阅和分享哦！ remember to like, subscribe, and share!
Also if you want to learn some daily Mandarin expressions,
check out my Instagram @gracemandarin
那我們就下次見囉！掰掰！ 那我们就下次见啰！掰掰！ I’ll see you next time! Bye!