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Mandarin Tones: A Beginner's Guide to the Four Tones

Mandarin is a tonal language: the pitch of your voice changes the meaning of a word. The good news is that there are only four tones, plus a light neutral tone, and they get easier with a little practice every day.

By the Memphys team · Updated · 7 min read

Why tones matter in Mandarin

In English, pitch shows emotion or turns a sentence into a question. In Mandarin, pitch is part of the word itself. The syllable ma means five different things depending on its tone:

ChinesePinyinToneMeaning
妈mā1stmother
麻má2ndhemp; numb
马mǎ3rdhorse
骂mà4thto scold
吗maneutralquestion particle

Native speakers rely on tones to tell words apart, so getting them roughly right matters more than a perfect accent. Learn each new word together with its tone from day one.

The four tones of Mandarin Chinese

Linguists describe pitch on a scale from 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest) of your own voice range. The numbers below show where each tone starts and ends.

First tone: high and level (ā)

Hold a steady, high pitch, as if you were singing a note: 妈 mā, 书 shū (book), 花 huā (flower). Pitch 5-5. Keep it high and flat; beginners often let it drop at the end.

Second tone: rising (á)

Start in the middle and rise, like the “what?” you say when you didn’t hear someone: 麻 má, 鱼 yú (fish), 床 chuáng (bed). Pitch 3-5.

Third tone: low and dipping (ǎ)

Dip low, then rise a little: 马 mǎ, 你 nǐ (you), 水 shuǐ (water). Pitch 2-1-4. In everyday speech, a third tone in the middle of a sentence is usually just low (2-1) without the rise. Think of it as the low tone and you will sound more natural.

Fourth tone: falling (à)

Drop sharply from high to low, like a firm “No!”: 骂 mà, 大 dà (big), 看 kàn (to look). Pitch 5-1. It is short and decisive.

The neutral tone (a)

Some syllables are said lightly and quickly, with no tone mark. The neutral tone is common in grammar particles (吗 ma, 的 de, 了 le), in the second half of doubled words (妈妈 māma, 爸爸 bàba) and in the noun ending 子 (桌子 zhuōzi, table).

How tone marks work in pinyin

Pinyin writes the tone as a mark over a vowel: ā á ǎ à. The mark is a small picture of the pitch: flat, rising, dipping and falling. When tone marks can’t be typed, learners often write a number instead: ma1, ma2, ma3, ma4, and ma5 or ma0 for the neutral tone.

Tone changes you need to know

A few common words change tone depending on the syllable that follows. Dictionaries and most textbooks still write the original tone, so it helps to know the rules.

Two third tones in a row

When two third tones meet, the first one becomes a second tone. 你好 is written nǐ hǎo but said ní hǎo. The same happens in 很好 hěn hǎo (very good), said hén hǎo.

不 (bù) before a fourth tone

不 is normally fourth tone, bù. Before another fourth tone it changes to second tone: 不是 bú shì (is not), 不要 bú yào (don’t want).

一 (yī) changes with the next tone

一 is first tone, yī, when said alone, when counting and in ordinal numbers such as 第一 dì yī (first). Before a fourth tone it becomes second tone (一个 yí gè, one of something), and before first, second and third tones it becomes fourth tone (一天 yì tiān, one day; 一起 yì qǐ, together).

How to practice Mandarin tones

  1. Learn every word with its tone. Don’t memorize “shui” for water. Memorize shuǐ, with a low dip.
  2. Practice tone pairs. Most words are two syllables, so drill the 20 two-tone combinations (1-1, 1-2, 1-3, 1-4 and so on) with real words such as 飞机 fēijī (1-1) or 手机 shǒujī (3-1).
  3. Exaggerate at first. Draw the tone in the air with your hand as you say it. Bigger movements make the pitch easier to feel.
  4. Record yourself. Listen to a native recording, say the word, and compare. You will hear mistakes you can’t feel while speaking.
  5. Shadow short phrases. Repeat a phrase right after you hear it, copying the melody, not just the words.
  6. Keep it short and daily. Five focused minutes a day trains your ear faster than an hour once a week.

Ready for the next step? Learn to read the sounds themselves in our pinyin guide, or see how tones fit into a beginner’s plan for learning Mandarin.

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