How to pronounce
in Mandarin Chinese
jīngFirst toneyàFourth tone
Hear it in conversation
zhè这wèi位xiān先sheng生de的gù故shi事dāng当shí时wǒ我tè特bié别jīng惊yà讶
Select a word for its meaning.
See it in a sentence.
,。
I was surprised and felt sad.
He was very surprised.
I was truly astonished.
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.