How to pronounce
in Mandarin Chinese
pǎoThird tonebùFourth tone
Hear it in conversation
pǎo跑bù步bù不shì是wèi为le了tí提gāo高xīn心fèi肺gōng功néng能
huò或zhě者tā他men们zài在zhè这lǐ里pǎo跑bù步
or running here,
Select a word for its meaning.
See it in a sentence.
I run every day.
Do you run?
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.