Mandarin has four tones plus a light neutral tone, and each one changes the meaning of a syllable: mā (妈) is mother, mǎ (马) is horse. English speakers also need three tone changes: two third tones in a row, 不 (bù) before a fourth tone, and 一 (yī) before other syllables.
English uses pitch too, but only for attitude. You can say "really?" with a rising pitch or "really." with a falling one and the word stays the same. In Mandarin, pitch belongs to the word itself, the way vowels do in English. Change the pitch and you have changed the word.
| Tone | Example | Shape | English comparison |
|---|---|---|---|
| First | 妈 (mā) mother | high and flat | Singing one held note, higher than your normal speaking voice |
| Second | 麻 (má) hemp, numb | rising from middle to high | The surprised "What?" or a question like "Yeah?" |
| Third | 马 (mǎ) horse | low, often dipping | A doubtful, drawn-out "Well..." pitched low in your throat |
| Fourth | 骂 (mà) to scold | sharp fall from high to low | A firm command: "Stop!" or "No!" |
| Neutral | 吗 (ma) question particle | short and light | The unstressed "a" in "sofa" |
The comparisons are starting points, not exact matches. The important thing is that a Mandarin tone keeps its shape no matter how you feel. A fourth tone is not angry, and a second tone is not a question.
English speakers raise their pitch at the end of yes or no questions. In Mandarin, the particle 吗 (ma) already marks the question, so the pitch of the last word stays as it is. If you ask 你是老师吗？ (Nǐ shì lǎoshī ma?) "Are you a teacher?" and push 师 (shī) and 吗 (ma) upward, you are adding an English question on top of a Mandarin one. Keep 师 high and flat and let 吗 drop off lightly.
English statements usually end on a fall. That pulls the last syllable down, which wrecks a first or second tone in final position. 我是美国人 (Wǒ shì Měiguó rén) "I'm American" ends on 人 (rén), a rising tone. Many learners say it falling because the sentence is over. Practice ending sentences on a rise when the last word calls for it.
When English speakers read a list, every item rises except the last. When they stress a word, they put a falling pitch on it. Both habits overwrite tones. Mandarin speakers add emphasis by making the tone bigger: a first tone gets higher, a fourth tone falls further. They don't swap the shape.
Textbooks draw the third tone as a dip that goes down and back up. In real speech, the full dip mostly appears when a third tone stands alone or at the end of a phrase, and even then it is often shortened. Before a first, second, fourth or neutral tone, it stays low and doesn't rise at all. This is often called a half third tone.
Say 很高 (hěn gāo) "very tall" with a low, creaky 很 followed by a high, flat 高. If you add the full dip to 很, the phrase sounds slow and sing-song. Many teachers say that thinking "low" instead of "dip" fixes most third tone problems for English speakers.
When two third tones meet, the first one is pronounced as a second tone. The written pinyin does not change, so you have to apply this rule yourself.
| Written | Pronounced | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 你好 (nǐ hǎo) | ní hǎo | hello |
| 很好 (hěn hǎo) | hén hǎo | very good |
| 可以 (kěyǐ) | kéyǐ | can, may |
| 水果 (shuǐguǒ) | shuíguǒ | fruit |
| 洗澡 (xǐzǎo) | xízǎo | to take a bath or shower |
With three or more third tones in a row, the result depends on how the words group, and native speakers vary. 我很好 (wǒ hěn hǎo) "I'm fine" is commonly heard as wó hén hǎo. Don't worry about the edge cases early on. Get the pairs right and the longer strings come with listening.
不 (bù) "not" is a fourth tone, except when the next syllable is also a fourth tone. Then it becomes a second tone. Many textbooks write the changed tone directly, which is why you see both bù and bú.
Before first, second and third tones, it stays fourth: 不喝 (bù hē) "don't drink," 不来 (bù lái) "not coming," 不好 (bù hǎo) "not good." In the middle of a yes or no question like 好不好 (hǎo bu hǎo) "OK or not?" or in 对不起 (duìbuqǐ) "sorry," 不 is usually neutral.
一 (yī) "one" is the hardest of the three because it has three forms.
| Situation | Tone | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Alone, counting, in dates, phone and room numbers, ordinals, at the end of a word | yī (first) | 一 (yī), 第一 (dì yī) "first," 统一 (tǒngyī) "unify" |
| Before a fourth tone | yí (second) | 一个 (yí gè) "one of," 一样 (yíyàng) "the same," 一定 (yídìng) "definitely" |
| Before first, second or third tones | yì (fourth) | 一天 (yì tiān) "one day," 一年 (yì nián) "one year," 一起 (yìqǐ) "together" |
个 (gè) is often said with a neutral tone, but 一 still treats it as a fourth tone, so it is always yí gè. Between a doubled verb, as in 看一看 (kàn yi kàn) "take a look," 一 goes neutral.
Tones settle fastest when you hear a real reply. Saying 我要一杯水 (wǒ yào yì bēi shuǐ) "I'd like a glass of water" out loud to a tutor like Polly in PollyStop, or to a waiter, tells you right away whether 杯 came out high and flat.
Often yes, from context, especially in common phrases. But in short answers or less predictable sentences a wrong tone can produce a different word, such as buy instead of sell. Aim for the right tone on every syllable.
Pinyin marks each syllable with its dictionary tone and leaves the third tone change for the reader to apply. Textbooks do the same with 你好 and other pairs. For 不 and 一, many textbooks print the changed tone instead.
Not exactly. It is short and light, and its pitch depends on the syllable before it: it sits fairly low after a first, second or fourth tone and slightly higher after a third tone. Particles like 吗, 吧 and 的 are neutral.
In songs, the melody mostly replaces the tones, which is why lyrics are often shown on screen. In fast speech, tones get smaller and some syllables go neutral, but the main tone shapes are still there.
