Character Familiesleft / right

啊ā, á, ǎ, à, a

(exclamation) surprise or admiration (啊,这花真美呀!)

啊 is the exclamation for every feeling, plus the toneless sentence-ending a.

GF0025–2021 character list · 二级, 四级
One character pageAll readings and linked senses stay together.

left / right

ZDIC: 形声; the mouth side carries the meaning, 阿 the sound — one sound unit whose inside opens one level at a time.

left / right · 啊

WHOLE CHARACTER

啊ā, á, ǎ, à, a

(exclamation) surprise or admiration (啊,这花真美呀!)

啊 is the exclamation for every feeling, plus the toneless sentence-ending a.

ZDIC: 形声; the mouth side carries the meaning, 阿 the sound — one sound unit whose inside opens one level at a time.

MEANING

口kǒu

mouth; opening

Mouth/speech/opening clue; may also be a repeated visual element.

In 啊: meaning Shown with its documented or clearly limited role.

SOUND

阿ā; ē

a name prefix; a slope (ē)

A standalone character and the sound unit in 啊 (kept as one unit with 阝 and 可 nested); its ē/ā standalone uses are kept separate.

In 啊: sound Shown with its documented or clearly limited role.

āTone 1
  • (exclamation) surprise or admiration (啊,这花真美呀!)
  • 啊哈āhāaha! oh!
áTone 2exclamation tone; rare in set phrases
  • (exclamation) a questioning repeat (啊,你说什么?)

No common modern word is offered for this reading; the dictionary sense remains in Sources.

ǎTone 3exclamation tone; rare in set phrases
  • (exclamation) doubt (啊,这是怎么回事?)

No common modern word is offered for this reading; the dictionary sense remains in Sources.

àTone 4exclamation tone; rare in set phrases
  • (exclamation) agreement (啊,好吧!); realization (啊,我明白了!)

No common modern word is offered for this reading; the dictionary sense remains in Sources.

aTone neutralneutral tone (particle)
  • (sentence-final particle) softens or adds feeling (好棒啊!)
  • 好棒啊hǎobàngahow great!

Checking for a Mandarin voice…