How to pronounce
in Mandarin Chinese
gǔThird tonelìFourth tone
Hear it in conversation
It means encouraging him to persuade him
gǔ鼓lì励 dà大jiā家 zhè这yàng样 zuò做
duì对fù父mǔ母qīn亲jī几hū乎dōu都shì是yě也gǔ鼓lì励xiǎo小hái孩zi子dú读shū书
Select a word for its meaning.
See it in a sentence.
Encourage others.
Nobody encouraged him.
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.