GRAMMAR · TONESHSK 1

The Four Tones of Mandarin Chinese, Explained

Why tones matter, how to hear them, and the common tone pairs Mandarin learners mix up — with audio.

Why tones matter

Mandarin is tonal — the pitch contour of a syllable is part of the word, not expression. Same pinyin, different tone, different word entirely:

mā妈	mother
má麻	hemp
mǎ马	horse
mà骂	scold
ma吗	question particle

Skipping or guessing the tone doesn't just sound off — it can change the word.

The four tones

ā 1st tone

High level

Hold a steady high pitch — like singing a sustained note, or the "Aaah" the doctor asks for. No up, no down.

mā · 妈 · mother

á 2nd tone

Rising

Start mid, rise to high — the same pitch contour as asking "What?" in English. Don't fade out at the top; commit to the rise.

má · 麻 · hemp

ǎ 3rd tone

Low dipping

Start low, dip lower, then rise. In isolation that's the textbook shape; in fast speech the final rise often drops away ("half third tone") and you'll hear just the low pitch. The dip is the important part.

mǎ · 马 · horse

à 4th tone

Falling (sharp)

Start high, drop sharply — like a stern "No!" or "Stop!". Short, decisive, almost angry. Don't let it trail off.

mà · 骂 · scold

a Neutral

Neutral (toneless)

Short and soft, no specific pitch — takes whatever pitch fits after the previous tone. No tone mark in pinyin. Common in particles (吗 ma, 了 le, 的 de) and the second syllable of some compounds (妈妈 māma, 谢谢 xièxie).

Reading tone marks

The tone mark always sits on the main vowel. The rule for picking the vowel:

If there's an a, the mark goes there: hǎo, miǎo.
Otherwise, on the o or e: zǒu, lèi.
For iu or ui, the mark goes on the second vowel: liù, guì.

When you can't type the diacritic, numbers work too: ma1 = mā, ma3 = mǎ. Useful in chat, not standard in printed text.

Tone changes — when tones shift in context

Tones aren't static. A few rules adjust them in real speech:

Two third tones in a row

When two 3rd tones land back-to-back, the first becomes 2nd tone. Spelled 3-3, spoken 2-3.

你好 — written nǐ hǎo, spoken ní hǎo

不 (bù) before 4th tone

不 is normally 4th tone (bù). Before another 4th tone, it shifts to 2nd tone (bú).

bù + shì → bú shì (不是 — "is not")

一 (yī) tone changes

一 is 1st tone in isolation (yī). In context it shifts:

Before 1st/2nd/3rd tone → 4th tone: yì zhāng (一张), yì běn (一本)
Before 4th tone → 2nd tone: yí gè (一个), yí cì (一次)
In numbers (一, 十一) and at the end of a word → stays 1st tone

Pairs Mandarin learners mix up

Same pinyin syllable, different tone — these are the pairs that snag people early:

mǎi 买 (buy)	vs.	mài 卖 (sell)
shǒu 手 (hand)	vs.	shōu 收 (receive)
tāng 汤 (soup)	vs.	táng 糖 (sugar)
shuǐ 水 (water)	vs.	shuì 睡 (sleep)
wèn 问 (ask)	vs.	wěn 吻 (kiss)
xióng 熊 (bear)	vs.	xiōng 凶 (fierce)

Train your ear, then your mouth

Tones are physical — you have to hear them and produce them. Kango plays native audio and grades your own pitch contour in real time, so wrong tones get caught before they become habits.

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