How to Master Chinese Tones: A Comprehensive Guide

Chinese is a tonal language, which means that the tone or pitch you use when you say a word determines its meaning. I promise it’s simpler than you’d expect. We actually use tones in English all the time to indicate questions and emotions.

In this post, we’ll learn all the Mandarin Chinese tones, pitch, tone pairs and more.

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What Are Chinese Tones?

Every language has its own unique sound system. Linguists call the study of these systems phonology.

Mandarin Chinese has its own sound system too, and tones are an essential part of it.

In Chinese, the tone of a word is what gives it meaning. When you change the tone—or accidentally use the wrong one—you change the meaning of the word. Take, for example, these words:

妈 (mā) — mom

麻 (má) — hemp or flax

马 (mǎ) — horse

骂  (mà) — to scold or verbally abuse

吗 (ma) — a question particle

While each of these words looks as if they sound the same, they have different tones—which give them different meanings.

1. First tone (flat tone)

The first tone is made when your voice becomes higher and flatter. The pitch is raised and the syllable is pronounced with a drawn-out tone that doesn’t drop or rise.

In pinyin, the first tone is written as a long line above the vowel or as the number 1 (for example, instead of mā you might occasionally see ma1). The numerical version isn’t near as common as the actual tone mark, so you likely won’t see it as often.

Chinese	Pinyin	English
喝	hē	To drink
天	tiān	Sky
黑	hēi	Black
一	yī	One
发	fā	To send
心	xīn	Heart
瓜	guā	Melon
猫	māo	Cat
三	sān	Three
出	chū	To go out

2. Second tone (rising tone)

The second tone is made with a rising voice. The pitch starts out low and then becomes higher. In pinyin, it’s written as a rising dash above the vowel or the number 2 (i.e. mang2):

Chinese	Pinyin	English
忙	máng	Busy
球	qiú	Ball
龙	lóng	Dragon
喉	hóu	Throat
来	lái	To come
明	míng	Bright
难	nán	Difficult, hard
鱼	yú	Fish
时	shí	Time
房	fáng	House

3. Third tone (dip tone)

The third tone is one of the hardest for Mandarin learners. The pitch falls lower before rising higher again.

In pinyin, the third tone is written as a dip above the vowel or the number 3 (i.e. wo3):

Chinese	Pinyin	English
我	wǒ	I/me
好	hǎo	Good
你	nǐ	You
很	hěn	Very
点	diǎn	Point
姐	jiě	Elder sister
也	yě	Also
狗	gǒu	Dog
小	xiǎo	Small
可	kě	Can

4. Fourth tone (falling tone)

To pronounce the fourth tone correctly, say the word with force, making your pitch fall. In pinyin, the fourth tone is written as a falling slant or dash above the vowel, or the number 4 (i.e. shi4):

Chinese	Pinyin	English
是	shì	To be
后	hòu	Behind
不	bù	No, not
热	rè	Hot
日	rì	Day
四	sì	Four
爸	bà	Dad, father
那	nà	That
下	xià	Down
去	qù	To go

5. Fifth tone (neutral tone)

Whether the fifth tone is actually considered a tone is up for debate. Instead of making your voice go up or down, this tone is simply neutral—which means the word has no tone.

Pinyin doesn’t mark the fifth tone because there’s nothing you have to change or emphasize, although you’ll sometimes see it represented by the number 5 (i.e. ma5).

For example, the previously mentioned question particle 吗 turns statements into yes/no questions and is pronounced with a neutral (or no) tone.

Other neutral tone words include:

Chinese	Pinyin	English
吧	ba	Suggestion particle (turns a statement into a suggestion)
么	me	Interrogative suffix [eg. 什么 (shén me) — what]
儿	er	R sound
的	de	Possessive particle
呢	ne	Particle for asking questions back to the original asker

Now you know all five tones. I recommend bookmarking this guide on how to practice Chinese tones so you can move on to it after finishing this one:

And the most obvious way to get better at tones is to practice them—listen to them and say them.

Since you’re not going to be able to pick up on every (or maybe even most) tones in normal Chinese media like podcasts right away, I highly recommend using a program that incorporates authentic, native-speaker videos with a transcript or subtitles you can follow along with. This will let your eyes, ears and brain work together to help you master them. One program I can recommend for this is FluentU.

What Is Chinese Pitch Contour?

Knowing the five levels of contour is meant to help you determine which pitch to use when pronouncing each tone. But if it doesn’t help (or makes you more confused), you’re welcome to ignore it.

There are five pitch contour levels:

5 = High

4 = Mid-high

3 = Middle

2 = Mid-low

1 = Low

Let’s take a look at the pitch levels of each tone:

First Tone = Level 5 to Level 5 (or, “high pitch” to “high pitch”)

Second Tone = Level 3 to Level 5 (or, “middle pitch” to “high pitch”)

Third Tone = Level 2 to Level 1 to Level 4 (or, “mid-low pitch” to “low pitch” to “mid-high pitch”)

Fourth Tone = Level 5 to Level 1 (or, “high pitch” to “low pitch”)

Fifth Tone = no pitch

Chinese Tone Changes

You should be aware that Chinese tones can change when used in specific sequences.

In other words, certain tones become different tones when paired with others.

Third tone changes

Third tone + third tone = second tone + third tone.

If one word with a third tone is followed by another word with a third tone, the first one becomes a second tone.

For example:

我很忙 (wǒ hěn máng) — “I am busy” becomes 我很忙 (wó hěn máng)

你好吗 (nǐ hǎo ma) — “How are you” becomes 你好吗  (ní hǎo ma)

Note that in pinyin, the tone change is not written. You simply must remember that you need to change the first word to a second tone.

The third tone can become neutral.

When followed by another tone, the third tone can become neutral or dropped. 

This is optional, but many Chinese speakers do it, as it requires less effort and makes speech faster.

Even if you don’t use it, it’s important to be prepared for when a Chinese speaker does. For example:

考试 (kǎo shì) — “test” can become 考试  (kao shì)

喜欢 (xǐ huān) — “to like” can become 喜欢 (xi huān)

Again, this tone change is not marked by pinyin.

一 (yī) tone changes

一 (yī) + fourth tone = 一 (yí) + fourth tone.

When the word 一 (yī) — “one” is followed by a fourth tone, it changes to a second tone.

You’ve probably seen this happen without even realizing it. Unlike most other tone changes, many textbooks and online courses mark this tone change for you.

For example:

一下 (yī xià) — “a bit” becomes 一下  (yí xià)

一定 (yī dìng) — “definitely” becomes 一定  (yí dìng)

一 (yī) + any tone = 一 (yì) + any tone.

Any time 一 (yī) is paired with another tone, it changes to a fourth tone: 一 (yì).

For example:

一般 (yī bān) — “usually” becomes 一般  (yì bān)

一起 (yī qǐ) — “together” becomes 一起  (yì qǐ)

一 (yī) can become a neutral tone.

Similar to the third tone, 一 (yī) can drop its tone when placed in between two words.

Dropping the tone is optional, but if you don’t, the same rules apply.

For example:

休息一下 (xiūxi yī xià) — “to rest a bit” becomes either:

休息一下 (xiūxi yí xià) with a second tone, or

休息一下 (xiūxi yi xià) with a neutral tone. 

快一点 (kuài yī diǎn) becomes either:

快一点 (kuài yì diǎn), or 

快一点 (kuài yi diǎn)

The number 一 (yī) stays the same.

When counting, the number 一 (yī) does not change its tone.

However, the number 一百二十六 (yī bǎi èr shí liù) — “126” becomes 一百二十六  (yì bǎi èr shí liù).

This is also true when counting items, such as 一个苹果  (yī gè píng guǒ) — “one apple,” which changes to 一个苹果  (yí gè píng guǒ).

不 (bù) tone changes 

不 (bù) + fourth tone = 不 (bú) + fourth tone.

When the word 不 (bù) — “no/not” is followed by another fourth tone, it changes to a second tone. For example:

不是 (bù shì) — “to not be” becomes 不是 (bú shì)

他不爱你 (tā bù ài nǐ) — “he doesn’t love you” becomes 他不爱你  (tā bú ài nǐ)

It can be neutral when in between two words.

When placed between two words to make a phrase, 不 (bù) can become a neutral tone. Although this is optional, it’s important to be prepared for when native speakers do it.

For example:

吃不完 (chī bù wán) — “can’t finish eating” can become 吃不完  (chī bu wán)

差不多 (chà bù duō) — “more or less” can become 差不多  (chà bu duō)

去不去 (qù bù qù) — “will you go?” can become 去不去  (qù bu qù)

Chinese Tone Pairs

You’ll rarely find full-length sentences in Chinese that only use one tone.

In fact, many Chinese words consist of two tones. When this happens, you’ve come across a tone pair.

First tone pairs

Tone Pair	Example	Pinyin	English
First Tone + First Tone	今天	jīn tiān	Today
First Tone + Second Tone	经常	jīng cháng	Often
First Tone + Third Tone	多少	duō shǎo	How many
First Tone + Fourth Tone	帮助	bāng zhù	To help

Second tone pairs

Tone Pair	Example	Pinyin	English
Second Tone + First Tone	明天	míng tiān	Tomorrow
Second Tone + Second Tone	同学	tóng xué	Classmate
Second Tone + Third Tone	还有	hái yǒu	And
Second Tone + Fourth Tone	前面	qián miàn	In front

Third tone pairs

Tone Pair	Example	Pinyin	English
Third Tone + First Tone	喜欢	xǐ huān	To like
Third Tone + Second Tone	警察	jǐng chá	Police
Third Tone + Third Tone	哪里	nǎ lǐ	Where
Third Tone + Fourth Tone	礼貌	lǐ mào	Polite

Fourth tone pairs

Tone Pair	Example	Pinyin	English
Fourth Tone + First Tone	信息	xìn xī	News
Fourth Tone + Second Tone	地图	dì tú	Map
Fourth Tone + Third Tone	入口	rù kǒu	Entrance
Fourth Tone + Fourth Tone	现在	xiàn zài	Now

 

And that’s all there is to Chinese tones!

You’re officially ready to dive in and start sounding like a native Mandarin speaker.
 

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)