How to pronounce
in Mandarin Chinese
qiánSecond tone
Hear it in conversation
zhàn站zài在jìng镜zi子qián前,wǒ我duì对zì自jǐ己shuō说:
Standing in front of the mirror, I told myself,
jiē接著,nǐ你de得確bǎo保nǐ你zài在辦gōng公桌qián前,
Next, make sure you're in front of your desk and
Select a word for its meaning.
See it in a sentence.
Go forward.
。
Let's check in at the front desk first.
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.