How to pronounce
in Mandarin Chinese
zhīFirst tone
Hear it in conversation
zhè这ge个jiù就shì是tiān天kōng空zhī之jiē街ma吗
Is this the Sky Street?
mǎi买 dōng东xi西 zhī之 qián前 huì会 wèn问 zì自jǐ己
Select a word for its meaning.
See it in a sentence.
.
This job is beyond my ability.
。
I'm all for it.
。
The road to mastery is oh so long.
Hear the difference
A syllable has a shape.
Tone marks show how pitch changes. Colors help you follow each syllable in the app.
ā →First toneHigh and level
á ↗Second toneRising
ǎ ↘↗Third toneLow, then rising in isolation
à ↘Fourth toneFalling
a ·Neutral toneShort and light
These are dictionary tones. In natural speech, tones can change with context. A third tone often stays low before another syllable.