The Four Tones 声调

Every Mandarin syllable carries a tone, and the tone changes the word itself: mā mother, má hemp, mǎ horse, mà scold. Listen to each pitch, follow its curve, then practise the minimal pairs below.

āTone 1

First tone — High & Flat

High and flat, like singing one steady note on "ah". The pitch stays level from start to end.

妈mā

áTone 2

Second tone — Rising

Rising, like asking "What?" in surprise. The pitch climbs from middle to high.

麻má

ǎTone 3

Third tone — Low & Dipping

Low and dipping: it falls to the lowest point, then rises slightly. The hardest tone — stay low and do not lift too early.

马mǎ

àTone 4

Fourth tone — Falling

Falling sharply, like a firm command "No!". Starts high and drops fast.

骂mà

·Light

Neutral tone — Light & Short

Short and light, with no fixed pitch of its own — it borrows a reduced pitch from the previous syllable. It is the light form you hear in the classroom readings 的/呢/了.

的de

Minimal pairs: hear the difference

The fastest way to train your ear is to hear the same syllable in all four tones, back to back. Play each character alone, then press "Play all four" — try to hum the pitch shape along with it.

妈mā麻má马mǎ骂mà

八bā拔bá把bǎ爸bà

包bāo雹báo保bǎo报bào

衣yī移yí椅yǐ意yì

Tones are not emotions. In English, pitch rises and falls to show surprise, questions or attitude — the words themselves do not change. In Mandarin, pitch is part of the word: swap the tone and you have said a different word (or nothing at all). Try not to "act" the tones; just reproduce the pitch shape calmly and consistently.

The neutral tone is the exception: light, short and unstressed, like the 的/呢/了 you met on the initials page. It has no fixed pitch — it simply passes by quickly, borrowing the pitch of the syllable before it.

Two tones in a row: when two third tones meet, the first one changes to second — 你好 is said ní hǎo, not nǐ hǎo. That and the 一/不 changes are explained on the spelling rules page.