How to pronounce
in Mandarin Chinese
àiFourth tone
Hear it in conversation
her favorite zongzi.
suǒ所yǐ以wǒ我zhī知dào道tā他ài爱wǒ我
So I know he loves me.
tā她shì是tā他de的jiā家rén人lǐ里zhēn真de的ài爱wǒ我de的nà那ge个rén人
She was the one in his family who truly loved me
Select a word for its meaning.
See it in a sentence.
I love my home.
I love coffee.
She has a passion for cake.
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.