How to Pronounce the Four Chinese Tones

Co-authored by Tian Zhou

Last Updated: April 2, 2021

Have you ever wondered how to pronounce the tones of Chinese characters; those lines and curves on top of pinyin characters? Read this and figure out how to correctly pronounce the four Chinese tones.

Steps

1
Recognize why learning the tones is important in Mandarin. Mandarin is a tonal language, so the way your voice rises or falls impacts the meaning of the word you're saying directly. There are few syllables in Mandarin. If you say the same syllable in a different tone, it may mean something entirely different from what you intended.^{[1]
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Expert Source

Tian Zhou
Language Specialist
Expert Interview. 19 March 2021.} Understanding the tones is important because it can sometimes turn a sentence into an insult.^{[2]
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- If you're a Western speaker, you should also be careful to avoid letting your natural vocal inflections alter the tones of your Mandarin. For example, if you raised your tone while saying qǐngwèn ("excuse me") to indicate that you were asking a question, you would transform the statement to qǐng wěn, which means "please kiss."
2
Speak at a high and level pitch to pronounce the first tone. When saying a syllable with the first tone, think about the pitch where your normal speaking voice would be, then raise the raise it towards the higher end of your vocal range, as though you were asking a question. The pitch is pronounced consistently, not rising towards that pitch. ^{[3]
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- When reading Chinese Pinyin – a form of Chinese written with Roman letters – the tones are indicated by marks over the vowel. For the first tone, you'll see a ̅ over the top of the vowel.
Did you know? If the vowel in the pinyin form of a character that should hold the tone marker is "i", you should draw the tone marker by omitting the dot on top of the "i" and draw the tone marker in place of the dot.

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3
Start with a medium tone then rise to the top for the second tone. The second tone starts about where your normal tone of voice would be, then rises – similarly to how you raise your tone in Western languages to indicate that you're asking a question.^{[4]
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- Note that the symbols for the tones give you an idea of how your pitch should change. The second tone uses the ´ symbol over the vowel, which looks like it starts in the middle of your range and then rises in pitch.
4
Start low at then drop before rising to the top again for the third tone (mă). The third tone starts at a pitch slightly lower than your normal speaking tone, then drops even further before rising again. The ending pitch should be higher than your normal speaking tone, but lower than the pitch of your first tone.^{[5]
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- Note how the ˘ symbol for the third tone looks as though it's dipping low and coming back up to the higher pitch as well.
5
Start at the top and fall to the lowest pitch for the fourth tone `. Start this tone at a high pitch, similar to the pitch you used for the first tone. Then lower your pitch until you're using the same pitch as you used in the middle of the third tone. However, make sure to not make your voice rumble because you want it to go low. Chinese tones are natural voice maneuvers; you need to be able to say them without stress and not go extremely high or low with your voice when saying them.^{[6]
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6
Speak flat with no emphasis or change in tone for neutral syllables. Some Mandarin syllables are spoken without any tone at all. Some people call this the fifth tone, even though technically it isn't a tone at all.^{[7]
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- A neutral tone can be just as difficult for Western speakers as the other tones, particularly if you are used to expressing your emotions through your tone of voice when using this tone.
Did you know? If you say "ma" in 4 different tones, you will ask the question "Did mother scold the horse?" in Mandarin: Mā mà mă ma?
7
Listen to native speakers and attempt to mimic their pronunciation. Tones can be incredibly difficult for Western speakers to master on their own. However, if you listen to native speakers saying words in the different tones and mimic their pronunciation as best you can, you'll have the tones down in no time.^{[8]
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Research source}^{[9]
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Expert Source

Tian Zhou
Language Specialist
Expert Interview. 19 March 2021.}
- Look for audio and video by native speakers that are designed for beginners. If you listen to more advanced native speakers, it may be difficult to hear their tones. As speakers become more fluent, their tones become more subtle.
8
Practice. When saying characters, you can wave your arm around in the shape of the tone to help simulate the movement of the tone.
- For the first tone, draw a straight line in front of you while you say the character. Your voice will follow this movement naturally.
- Draw a line that goes from the bottom to top in front of you. Don’t do it to fast or else your voice will get very sharp.
- Draw a “V” for the third tone. Make sure your V’s vertex is easily noticeable and the two lines it connects are the same length so your character is not mistaken for a character of the second or fourth tones.
- Draw a line from top to bottom for the fourth tones. Make sure you go at a good speed so your character does not sound sharp or like it is wavering.
9
Be calm when speaking. Too much emphasis will just make you sound weird. Just relax when you speak!

Expert Q&A

Question

Is it possible to master the tones as an adult learner?

Tian Zhou
Language Specialist
Tian Zhou is a Language Specialist and the Founder of Sishu Mandarin, a Chinese Language School in the New York metropolitan area. Tian holds a Bachelor's Degree in Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL) from Sun Yat-sen University and a Master of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) from New York University. Tian also holds a certification in Foreign Language (&ESL) - Mandarin (7-12) from New York State and certifications in Test for English Majors and Putonghua Proficiency Test from The Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China. He is the host of MandarinPod, an advanced Chinese language learning podcast.

Tian Zhou

Language Specialist

Expert Answer

You can certainly get very good with a lot of practice. At a certain age though, it does become exceptionally difficult (possibly impossible) to reach native-speaker levels of expertise. It's a lot easier for children to acquire new language skills, but you can still get very far as an adult.
Question

Are the tones what makes Mandarin so hard to learn for English speakers?

Tian Zhou
Language Specialist
Tian Zhou is a Language Specialist and the Founder of Sishu Mandarin, a Chinese Language School in the New York metropolitan area. Tian holds a Bachelor's Degree in Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL) from Sun Yat-sen University and a Master of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) from New York University. Tian also holds a certification in Foreign Language (&ESL) - Mandarin (7-12) from New York State and certifications in Test for English Majors and Putonghua Proficiency Test from The Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China. He is the host of MandarinPod, an advanced Chinese language learning podcast.

Tian Zhou

Language Specialist

Expert Answer

It's a large component of it, yes. There are some grammar rules that make Mandarin kind of difficult for English speakers, but the tones can be a huge problem if you aren't really used to controlling your pitch while you speak in your native language.