啦 (la) — particle combining le and a in Mandarin
🔊 Tap to hear it
#509 most common word · HSK 6 · CEFR C2
Pinyin colour key: tone 1 (high flat), tone 2 (rising), tone 3 (dipping), tone 4 (falling), neutral.
Tone breakdown
啦 is pronounced la. Tap any syllable’s row to hear the whole word.
In a sentence
Wǒ lái la!
I'm coming!
Hear it, then say it right
Reading pinyin only gets you halfway. ToneDeck plays native audio for 啦 and thousands more words, then scores your pronunciation so your tones land. HSK 1 is free, no install.
Start freeFrequently asked questions
What does 啦 mean?+
啦 (la) means "particle combining le and a" in Mandarin Chinese.
How do you pronounce 啦?+
啦 is pronounced la. It is read with a neutral, unstressed tone. Tap the character on this page to hear native audio.
How common is 啦 in Mandarin?+
啦 is the #509 most frequent word in spoken Mandarin, so it is one of the first words worth learning.
Where 啦 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.
On iPhone, Android and the web
ToneDeck is on the App Store. The trainer works right now.
Download ToneDeck for iPhone or Android today. One account unlocks Pro on both the app and the web. Prefer the browser? The full tone trainer runs at tonedeck.app right now, no install, free to start.
Sign up free and start trainingBrowse more on the Mandarin vocabulary hub, or read how to learn Mandarin tones.