How to pronounce
in Mandarin Chinese
xīnFirst tonewénSecond tone
Hear it in conversation
bàn半nián年qián前,xīn新wén闻lǐ里jīng经cháng常shuō说zhè这ge个huà话tí题。
zhōng中guó国de的xīn新wén闻hé和bào报zhǐ纸shàng上yě也jīng经cháng常shuō说mǎ马yún云de的shì事qing情。
Select a word for its meaning.
See it in a sentence.
Do you watch the news?
The news distressed 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.