Chinese Tones: Tips on How to Learn the Tricky Change

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ni wang

Passionate about language learning, translating and teaching. Graduated with a master's degree in arts from PolyU in Hong Kong, majoring in TCFL. Have an experience of teaching spoken Chinese to college students at Masaryk University in the Czech Republic, which inspired her to help more people from different countries understand China. Enjoy sharing with others the Chinese culture and the secrets of how to learn Chinese.

Latest posts by ni wang (see all)

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Every language has its own sound system. Chinese is a tonal language, which means the same syllable with different tones can distinguish between words’ meaning. Learning how to pronounce different tones correctly is an essential and fun part of studying Chinese. 

In this article, we will talk about Standard Mandarin Chinese tones. Even though Chinese tones differ by dialect, Standard Mandarin will be a great place to start!

The Basic Four Tones

In Mandarin Chinese, there are four basic tones. Each of them has a distinctive pitch contour. Pitch may vary from speaker to speaker, but you can get the general picture from the tone diagram below.

Here is a brief introduction of the four basic tones. The numbers in parentheses reflect changes in pitch.

First tone

The first tone, also called high-level tone, is very easy to pronounce. It starts high and maintains the pitch the whole time, which tends to be longer in duration than the other three tones.

Some examples:

Second tone 

The second tone, or rising tone, starts semi-high (medium), and then goes up. It sounds like asking a question.

Some examples:

Third tone

The third tone, or dipping tone, is the most difficult one for most non-native Chinese speakers. It starts semi-high (lower than the starting pitch of the second tone), dips down to the bottom of the tonal range, and then goes up again. 

Some examples:

Fourth tone

The fourth tone, or high-falling tone, starts very high but sharply goes down to the bottom of the tonal range. It sounds a little bit angry but you don’t need to do so intentionally. It tends to be shorter in duration than the other three tones.

Some examples:

Neutral Tone

The neutral tone is called “轻声/qīngshēng” in Chinese and often referred to as “toneless”, which does not have a defined pitch contour but is roughly in the middle of your voice range. It’s always very easy to pick up because they are generally somewhat shorter than tonic syllables and pronounced quickly and slightly. 

Frankly speaking, it’s not the “fifth tone”. Instead, it’s just a kind of tone change for certain words and can be classified into two groups: the regular neutral tone and the irregular neutral tone. Bear in mind that no word starts with a neutral tone! It usually occurs in a final unstressed syllable of a disyllabic word.

The regular neutral tone

The neutral tone can be found in many words, which can be divided into the following groups. 

• Noun suffixes

Some characters put after a noun are pronounced with a neutral tone. They don’t have a concrete meaning, but function as an abstract indication. 

• Auxiliary particles

Some auxiliary particles, such as “得/de，的/de，地/de，了/le，着/zhe，们/men”, are very commonly read with neutral tone.

• Modal particles

Modal particles, such as “吗/ma，啊/a，吧/ba，呢/ne”, used at the end of a sentence to indicate emotion or mood, should be read with neutral tone.

• Measure words

When “个/gè” is used as a measure word, it should be pronounced with a neutral tone.

• Duplicated words 

As for duplicated nouns or verbs, such as” 妹妹/mèimei, 星星/xīngxing, 看看/kànkan”, the second character should be read with a neutral tone. Plus, when “一/yī” or “不/bù” is used between a duplicated word, “一’ or “不” is pronounced with a neutral tone. 

•  Location character after noun

Some location characters, such as “上/shàng，下/xià，里/lǐ，外/wài”, always take on the neutral tone when put after a noun.

Monosyllabic verb suffixes indicating the direction

Verb suffixes “来/lái” and “去/qù”, which indicate the direction towards or away from the speaker respectively, always take on the neutral tone.

The irregular neutral tone

In some cases, the neutral tone is used even though none of the above rules apply. Learners have no choice but to learn such words by heart.

Tone Sandhi

Chinese tones are not static: sometimes tones of individual characters change depending on the pronunciation of adjacent characters. This phenomenon is called “tone sandhi”. Those tone changes are not reflected in pinyin tone marks, so getting to grips with the rules of tone sandhi is vital for any learner of Chinese.

For T3

Among the four tones, the third tone is the most prone to tone changes. It’s only pronounced in its full “falling-rising” form when standing alone. In any other situation, rules of tone sandhi will apply.

T3 + non-T3 → Half T3 + non-T3

The third tone preceding the first, the second, or the fourth tone will be pronounced as a half-third tone, starting low then falling even lower, never to rise again.

Some examples:

T3 + T3 → T2 + T3

When a third tone is followed by another third tone in a pair, the former changes to a second tone.

Some examples:

For T4 

T4 + T4 → Half T4 + T4

When two fourth-tone syllables are used together, the former changes to the half-fourth tone. Unlike the full fourth tone, the half-fourth tone doesn’t drop all the way down but stops semi-high.

Some examples:

For 一 (yī)

“一/yī” is probably one of the first Chinese words you’ve ever learned, but despite its simplicity, you still have to pay special attention to its pronunciation. When used in isolation, as a number, or at the end of a word or a sentence, “一/yī” is pronounced with the first tone. However, 一 changes to the fourth tone if it precedes the first, the second, or the third tone. Finally, before the fourth tone, “一/yí” is pronounced with the second tone.

一（yī) 

一（yī) + T1/T2/T3 → 一 (yì)

一 (yī) + T4 → 一 (yí)

For 不 (bù)

When “不(bù)” is used before the fourth tone in a group, it should be changed into “bú”.

不 (bù) + T4 → 不 (bú)

How to Practice Mandarin Chinese Tones

Even with the introduction above, Chinese tones might still feel like a frustrating mystery to you. The key here is practice. Increase your confidence and improve your spoken Chinese with these simple exercises!

• Start with numbers

Chinese numbers from 1 to 10 are the best start for a beginner. They’re short, simple, widely used, and, more importantly, contain all four tones.

• Listen and repeat with gestures

Using your hand to follow the changes in pitch will help you memorize the four tones faster and keep your pronunciation in check. 

Step 1. Listen to the character carefully and identify its tone.

Step 2. Listen again, following the changes in pitch with your hand.

Tone 1. Draw a horizontal straight line. 

Tone 2. Draw a diagonal line from bottom left to top right.

Tone 3. Draw a “V”.

Tone 4. Draw a diagonal line from top left to bottom right. 

Step 3. Try to say the tones with gestures by yourself.

Step 4. Repeat the exercise with different tones to strengthen your memory.

• Exaggerate the tones

To an unpracticed ear, tones pronounced in fast succession are nearly impossible to differentiate, so don’t rush to speak as fast as a native speaker would. Take your time: speak slowly and exaggerate the four tones, pronouncing the lows really low and the high really high. 

This doesn’t seem like an efficient way to memorize correct pronunciation, but it will pay off in the long run. Remember: many learners who started using Chinese to communicate without mastering the tones first now find themselves struggling to correct their pronunciation mistakes. Better start off slow and lay a solid foundation for your further progress.

• Practice tones in pairs

After practicing tones in isolation, move on to practicing tones in pairs. Tone sandhi will affect different combinations in different ways, so make sure to cover all of them for better results.

• Record your voice

Recording your voice isn’t just a great way to keep tabs on your learning progress: you can use it to gauge if your pronunciation is off in real-time! Here’s how to do that with the Shadow Speaking feature in ChineseSkill app:

Step 1. Listen to standard pronunciation.

Step 2. Click the “recording” button on the bottom left and repeat what you just heard.

Step 3. Click the “ear” icon on the bottom right. Listen to your recording and compare it to the standard pronunciation to see if you got anything wrong.

Step 4. Click the “arrow” button on the middle right or left to see the explanation of the corresponding word.

ChineseSkill is available on App Store and Google Play. Don’t miss out!

• Practice with a native speaker

Don’t be shy and make some native speaker friends! Mimic the way they speak and ask for honest feedback. Don’t just stick to one or two language buddies though: they might get used to your accent and stop correcting your mistakes.

• Use online resources to practice

Once you have mastered the basic four tones and tone sandhi, make full use of modern technology and practice longer combinations of Chinese tones with the help of resources available online:

⇒ Sing in Chinese

This relaxing and fun activity is perfect for all learners, not just the ones with an ear for music. Check out the recommendations below:

• 《刻在你心底的名字》— 卢广仲
• 《有你的快乐》— 王若琳

⇒ Watch Chinese TV shows

• 《流星花园》
• 《爱情公寓》

⇒ Watch Chinese films

This video shows 13 of the most popular movies in China even in the world:

⇒ Listen to podcasts:

Top 10 Chinese Podcasts to Improve Your Listening Skill will tell you some fabulous podcasts.