# Pronunciation: 教



## Inquisit

Hello all, first-time poster here. 

As I understand it, 教 can be pronounced with 1st or 4th tone, depending on which other character(s) 教 is paired with; but are there any rules of thumb that indicate which tone to use in which context? For example, use one tone if using as a verb, another as a noun, etc.


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## xiaolijie

> are there any rules of thumb that indicate which tone to use in which  context? For example, use one tone if using as a verb, another as a  noun, etc.


Here is a rule of thumb: use the 1st tone if it is a word on its own, use the 4th tone when it's part of a word.
Remember that this is a rule of thumb and is a good one, but _not an absolute rule_. Welcome to the forum, by the way


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## Zhi

Xiaolijie is right，and when it's alone, it's a verb, means to teach, and when it's part of a two-character word, the two-character word is always a noun, like 教育，教学，教师，教室，教材。So in conclusion, 1st tone when it's alone, and it always means to teach when it's alone. 2st tone when as a part of a two-character noun.


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## BODYholic

It is important to note that not only two-morpheme nouns, but the guidelines also apply to *most *of the two-morpheme verbs too. Examples, 教唆(jiao4suo1, to instigate), 教导(jiao4dao3, to teach/guide/instruct).

As xiaolijie has mentioned, the guidelines are no absolute. Example, 教教 (jiao1jiao1).


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## Inquisit

Thanks a lot everyone, that's very helpful. I'm using memrise.com to build up my vocab, and it's very useful to have somewhere to go to make sure I'm learning the correct pronunciations and meanings. I'll probably be posting more questions like this. Thanks again!


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## YangMuye

BODYholic said:


> As xiaolijie has mentioned, the guidelines are no absolute. Example, 教教 (jiao1jiao1).


I have never heard this verb before. Do you mean 教一教？

I think 教 is always pronounced with the 4th tone.
Exception: 
0. When it's alone and means “to teach”.
1. When 0 is followed by its object.
教课、教书
2. When 0 or is followed by a complement
教(得/不)会…
3. When 0, 1 or 2 is followed by its object, and the object may be predicative.
教（人）读书、教（人）写字、教给我
4. When 0,1,2 and 3 are attached to other phrases.
教书匠、教书先生...
5. Some special structures. The second 教 is pronounced in the same way as the first one.
教一教(=教一下)
教了教
教不教
But 教教(=教一教) is jiao1jiao rather than jiao1jiao1.

6. Special exceptions:
I read 教授 as jiao1shou4 when it's used as a verb. But the dictionary only has jiao4shou4.
According to the dictionary, both “jiao1” and “jiao4” are acceptable when it means “let sb. do sth.”. I use only “jiao4”.


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## Inquisit

Thanks for that in-depth explanation YangMuye. It's interesting - and somehow reassuring - that there reasons for the exceptions that I had noticed (e.g. 教书). It's just a pity there are so many of them! Ah well, as an English speaker I can hardly complain about exceptions and irregularities.


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## BODYholic

YangMuye said:


> I have never heard this verb before. Do you mean 教一教？



没听过吗？那让我教教你吧！


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## claireyeung

Basically, 1st tone is used when 教 is as a verd and followed by an object（宾语）, such as 教课，教我英语.
And we use 4th tone when 教 is used in a noun such as 教育、教师、教导、教室…… 4th tone is more frequent.
I don't think we have to make it so complicated.


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## Inquisit

So based on the replies so far, is the following largely correct?


When used alone or as a verb with its object, 教 is pronounced with a 1st tone, e.g. 教我英语 jiāo wŏ yīngyŭ, 教书 jiāoshū, 教课 jiāokè.

When it is combined with another character to make a noun, it is pronounced with a 4th tone: 教师 jiàoshī, 教室 jiàoshì. However, some of these nouns can also be used as verbs - and are still pronounced with a 4th tone, e.g. 教育 jiàoyù, 教导 jiàodăo.


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## xiaolijie

> So based on the replies so far, is the following largely correct?


Yes, but bear in mind the word "largely".



> When used alone or as a verb with its object, 教 is pronounced with a 1st tone, e.g. 教我英语 jiāo wŏ yīngyŭ, 教书 jiāoshū, 教课 jiāokè.
> When it is combined with another character to make a noun, it is pronounced with a 4th tone: 教师 jiàoshī, 教室 jiàoshì.


Yes, that is right.



> However, some of these nouns can also be used as verbs - and are still pronounced with a 4th tone, e.g. 教育 jiàoyù, 教导 jiàodăo.


This is ok but it may be confusing. Avoid using two different criteria for the same thing because the two can sometimes contradict each other. I'd suggest the single criterion of "alone" vs "in combination" should work well in the case of *jiāo *vs* jiào*.


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## Inquisit

> This is ok but it may be confusing. Avoid using two different criteria for the same thing because the two can sometimes contradict each other. I'd suggest the single criterion of "alone" vs "in combination" should work well in the case of *jiāo *vs* jiào*



Thanks. The reason that I was reaching for something slightly more complicated was that, for beginners like myself, it's not immediately obvious that although 教导 clearly counts as being 'in combination', 教书 does not. But I take your point about avoiding potential confusion.


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## yuechu

How about in the following context? Is it pronounced *jiào* here as well?

虛心向學，承教最多；
謙卑恭順，結緣最廣。

Thanks!


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## Jack12345

承教 Cheng 2, Jiao 4


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## yuechu

Thanks, Jack12345! So it means "to receive teachings", right?


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## Jack12345

承教， 1.接受教令。 2.用作谦词，言接受教诲。
一般是用第二个意思。第一个仅在一些古文中这样解释。


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## SimonTsai

Here are two special cases: '校外教 (jiao1) 學' versus '教 (jiao4) 學相長'.


YangMuye said:


> I read '教授' as jiao1 shou4 when it's used as a verb.


Same here. It is something very similar to '講授'. For example, '接下來這兩學期的中級會計學，將由我教授'.


> [W]hen it means “[to] let sb. do sth.”[,] I use only jiao4.


Same here again. For example, '這教我情何以堪' and '真教人看不下去'.


Inquisit said:


> However, some of these nouns can also be used as verbs - and are still pronounced with a 4th tone, e.g. '教育' (jiào yù), '教导' (jiào dăo).


I currently am unable to think of a context in which '教育' is a verb. It is always a noun that equates to education. For example, '教育是百年大計' and '他沒有受過教育'.

It is possible to pronounce '教導' jiao1 dao3. The word is a noun as in '教導有方', where '有' is the verb and '教' is pronounced jiao4. It is a verb as in '謝謝老師過去這三年耐心地教導我們'.


yuechu said:


> So it means "to receive teachings", right?


Yes. '承 (verb) 教 (noun)' matches '結 (verb) 緣 (noun)'.


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## Jack12345

教导jiao4 dao3
When 教 means "direct" ( to organize and control works指导，训诲), the pronunciation is jiao4. Such as 教育，赐教，教授(professor), 承教
When 教jiao4 has the meaning of "religion or idea system", pronunciation is jiao4, such as 宗教，道教，佛教
When 教jiao1 means "teach", the pronunciation is jiao1. Such as 教课，教书，


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## albert_laosong

Yes, it should be 教4导3.  教1导3 would sound very weird. 
and it's quite common to use 教育 as a verb,  回去好好*教育*一下你的孩子，一点礼貌都没有。


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## YangMuye

SimonTsai said:


> I currently am unable to think of a context in which '教育' is a verb.






> 我怀念、我发自内心地热爱他老人家。因为他不仅是我的伯伯，更是全党和全国人民的伟大领袖，马列主义和中国革命实际相结合的毛泽东思想，*教育*了我们一代又一代。 ——《怀念伯伯毛泽东》毛远志


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## SimonTsai

SimonTsai said:


> It is always a noun that equates to education.


I am taking my words back and am sorry for the misinformation. '教育' can be a verb, as in '得天下英才而教育之' and the sentences that @albert_laosong and @YangMuye have provided. I am just unfamiliar with it.


albert_laosong said:


> 教1导3 would sound very weird.


I feel mildly surprised. Maybe it is one of my idiosyncrasies pronouncing '教導' jiao1 dao3 when it is a transitive.

The official dictionary here states that jiao1 versus jiao4 is a difference between 語音 and 讀音. According to it, it should always be '教 (jiao4) 學成功', but, being honest, I have not ever heard anyone that I know pronounce it so. If any Taiwanese people pronounce '校外教學' siao4 wai4 jiao4 syueh2, kindly let me know.

Finally, I think that the difference in pronunciation discussed here is similar in some respect to that in the pronunciations of '_often_' and '_hello_': While some claim that only one is correct, others disagree, happily pronouncing one at times and another other times, without defining rules.


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## albert_laosong

In Mainland mandarin it's 教4学 and 教4导 no matter they are used as a noun or a verb，then it's 教1书，教1课， 教1孩子写字.

maybe(just maybe) in some old literature, there was the word "教1学”, it refers to the vocation, being a teacher, like 如果进不了银行，我觉得教学可能也是一个好选择。but in present-day Chinese, seems on one says it like that. we almost always use "当老师” or "教书” to mean that.

教4学 means a little differently, it means teaching, not the job, but the work. For example the headmaster says:  各位老师需要提高教学质量，上学期各班的成绩有所下滑。or parents are talking to each other:  你觉得哪个培训班的教学更好一些？现在这几个班的教学质量我都觉得一般般。

Finally for foreigners who are confused about the pronunciation, I would add that it's really difficult to work out a rule when to use 1, when to use 4, maybe they can only be learned one by one.


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## Lianxin

Zhi said:


> Xiaolijie is right，and when it's alone, it's a verb, means to teach, and when it's part of a two-character word, the two-character word is always a noun, like 教育，教学，教师，教室，教材。So in conclusion, 1st tone when it's alone, and it always means to teach when it's alone. 2st tone when as a part of a two-character noun.


昨日晚夕，到我家哭哭啼啼，再三跪著央及我，教對你爹說。

source: 金瓶梅第 34 回


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