How to pronounce
in Mandarin Chinese
chúSecond tonefēiFirst tone
Hear it in conversation
Unless I'm joking, like when my friend says
chú除fēi非wǒ我de的gōng工zuò作shì是guǎn管lǐ理céng层gōng工zuò作
Unless my job is a management position
Select a word for its meaning.
See it in a sentence.
Over my dead body.
,。
Don't speak till spoken to.
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.