How to pronounce
in Mandarin Chinese
shēngFirst tonemìngFourth tone
Hear it in conversation
。
wèi为le了qù去bǎo保hù护guó国jiā家ér而shī失qù去shēng生mìng命de的rén人
ér而shì是zhǐ指rén人tǐ体nèi内bù部de的yī一种shēng生mìng命néng能liàng量。
Select a word for its meaning.
See it in a sentence.
I love life.
This is life.
。
Water is necessary for life.
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.