来源 (lái yuán) — source in Mandarin
🔊 Tap to hear it
#735 most common word · HSK 6 · CEFR C1
Pinyin colour key: tone 1 (high flat), tone 2 (rising), tone 3 (dipping), tone 4 (falling), neutral.
Tone breakdown
来源 is pronounced lái yuán. Tap any syllable’s row to hear the whole word.
In a sentence
zhè tiáo xìn xī de lái yuán shì shé me?
What is the source of this information?
Hear it, then say it right
Reading pinyin only gets you halfway. ToneDeck plays native audio for 来源 and thousands more words, then scores your pronunciation so your tones land. HSK 1 is free, no install.
Start freeFrequently asked questions
What does 来源 mean?+
来源 (lái yuán) means "source" in Mandarin Chinese.
How do you pronounce 来源?+
来源 is pronounced lái yuán. It uses the tone 2 (rising). Tap the character on this page to hear native audio.
How common is 来源 in Mandarin?+
来源 is the #735 most frequent word in spoken Mandarin, so it is one of the first words worth learning.
Where 来源 fits
Every HSK 6 word with tone-coloured pinyin and audio.
Words at a similar frequency
Master the tones first
What each tone sounds like and why it matters.
Why some tones change in connected speech.
Now on iPhone · Android coming soon
ToneDeck is on the App Store. The trainer works right now.
Download ToneDeck for iPhone today, and your progress syncs across every device. Prefer the browser? The full tone trainer runs at tonedeck.app right now, no install, free to start.
Browse more on the Mandarin vocabulary hub, or read how to learn Mandarin tones.