yāo = y + ao1
to weigh in a balance or on a scale
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yuē = yu + e1
to make an appointment / to invite / approximately / pact / treaty / to economize / to restrict / to reduce (a fraction) / concise
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How to pronounce 約

MandarinBanana teaches pronunciation with the Marilyn Method: every Pinyin syllable is one initial plus one final, the initial becomes a person, an animal or a deity, and the final becomes a place in your memory palace — with the tone deciding which part of that place the scene happens in. Remember the little story below for each half and the whole syllable comes back with them.

= y initial

Y is for Maud Younger.

By Matthias • updated 2 months ago
+ ao1 final

In front of the aorta.

By Matthias • updated 5 months ago
= yu initial

Yu is for Yu the Great who tamed the floods.

By Matthias • updated 5 months ago
+ e1 final

In front of the elevator.

By Matthias • updated 2 months ago

約 character breakdown

Chinese characters are built out of smaller characters. Each component carries a mnemonic symbol - one concrete object that stands in for it - and a mnemonic story hands those objects to the person and the place that stand for the pronunciation. Learn a component once and every character that reuses it gets easier.

Component Translations
= s + Ø1
"silk" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 120), occurring in 紅|红[hong2], 綠|绿[lü4], 累[lei4] etc / also pr. [mi4]
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sháo = sh + ao2
spoon / ladle / CL:把[ba3] / abbr. for 公勺[gong1 shao2], centiliter (unit of volume)
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Characters with 約 as component

yào = y + ao4
leaf of the iris / variant of 藥|药[yao4]
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Oh! (interjection indicating slight surprise)
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yo = y + o5
(sentence-final particle expressing exhortation) / (syllable filler in a song)
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Words with 約

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having no common measure / incommensurable / incommensurate
(term coined c. 1920s) unequal treaty – a treaty between China and one or more aggressor nations (including Russia, Japan and various Western powers) which imposed humiliating conditions on China (in the 19th and early 20th centuries)

Sentences with 約

約 currently does not appear in any sentence.

Want to remember 約 for good?

Make it your learning target and MandarinBanana works out the shortest route to it: the two sounds its syllable is built from, then the components of the character itself, one short step at a time. No account needed to start.

yāo / yuē

2 translations

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