How to pronounce
in Mandarin Chinese
fēnFirst toneshǒuThird tone
Hear it in conversation
Yeah, because I didn’t want to break up
wǒ我yīng应bù不yīng应gāi该hé和wǒ我de的nán男péng朋you友fēn分shǒu手
Should I break up with my boyfriend?
yǐ以qián前jiù就shì是wǒ我méi没yǒu有fēn分shǒu手de的shí时hou候
Back when I hadn’t broken up
Select a word for its meaning.
See it in a sentence.
We should break up.
。
I mean to break up with her.
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.