Chinese words starting with “su”

20 words in our HSK vocabulary start with the syllable su. They are sorted by how common they are, so the ones you are most likely to meet come first. The 1 most useful of them have their own page — they are listed first below.

Initial s · final u · hear the four tones and see example characters →

1st tone 2
2nd tone 4
4th tone 14

Word counts by tone are counted on the first syllable of each word.

Common words with this syllable

速度sù dùHSK 3
speed; rate; velocity; (music) tempo

All 20 words

#	Word	Pinyin	POS	Meaning
1	素	sù	g,n,a	raw silk; white; plain, unadorned; vegetarian (food); essence; nature; element; constituent; usually; always; ever
2	诉讼	sù sòng	vn,v	lawsuit
3	宿舍	sù shè	n	dormitory; dorm room; living quarters; hostel
4	塑料	sù liào	n	plastics
5	素质	sù zhì	n	inner quality; basic essence
6	塑造	sù zào	v,vn	to model; to mold; (fig.) to create (a character, a market, an image etc); (literature) to portray (in words)
7	俗	sú	a,ad,g	custom; convention; popular; common; coarse; vulgar; secular
8	酥	sū	a	flaky pastry; crunchy; limp; soft; silky
9	苏醒	sū xǐng	v,vn	to come to; to awaken; to regain consciousness
10	塑料袋	sù liào dài	n	plastic bag
11	素材	sù cái	n	source material (in literature and art)
12	诉说	sù shuō	v,vn	to recount; to tell of; to relate; (fig.) (of a thing) to stand as testament to (some past history)
13	素食	sù shí	n	vegetarian food; to eat a vegetarian diet
14	俗话	sú huà	n	common saying; proverb
15	素描	sù miáo	n	sketch
16	俗话说	sú huà shuō	v	as the proverb says; as they say...
17	诉苦	sù kǔ	v	to grumble; to complain; grievance
18	素养	sù yǎng	n	(personal) accomplishment; attainment in self-cultivation
19	俗语	sú yǔ	n	common saying; proverb; colloquial speech
20	素不相识	sù bù xiāng shí	v	to be total strangers (idiom)

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