How to pronounce
in Mandarin Chinese
chūFirst tonechāiFirst tone
Hear it in conversation
Going on a business trip means for work reasons
wǒ我dì第yī一cì次chū出chāi差zǒu走chū出shén神农jià架de的shí时hou候
when I left Shennongjia for the first time on a work trip
nián年huì会nà那tiān天zài在wài外dì地chū出chāi差
On the day of the annual meeting, I was on a business trip out of town
Select a word for its meaning.
See it in a sentence.
I came on business.
I'm here on business.
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.