Hear and practise the four tones

English

The same syllable can mean something different

Mandarin tone is part of a syllable’s pronunciation. mā and mǎ are not interchangeable.
First learn the pitch shapes. Then practise them inside useful words and phrases.

English

First mā: high and level. Second má: rising. Say them gently; tone is pitch movement, not shouting.
Third mǎ: low, often with a dip and rise when said alone. Fourth mà: falling.

Prática

Which pinyin form has a rising second tone?

Prática

Which has fourth tone?

Prática

Match the citation-tone shapes.

high and level

rising

low / dipping

falling

English

The four characters here mean mother, hemp, horse, and scold. They demonstrate a sound contrast; you do not need to memorise all four meanings today.
Play horse马mǎ, pause, then repeat it. Compare its low tone with the falling variant of 骂骂mà.

Example

mā / má / mǎ / mà show the same letters with four different tone marks.

Prática

What tone number does mǎ show?

English

A third tone is often low without a full final rise when another syllable follows. Two third tones together change too; a later lesson uses hello你好nǐ hǎo.
Do not force a large dip-and-rise onto every third-tone syllable in a sentence. Listen to the whole phrase.

Watch out

A question does not turn every syllable into a rising second tone. Keep word tones recognisable while following the sentence’s natural intonation.

Prática

Every third tone in a sentence must have a full dip and rise.

English

Record yourself saying mā, má, mǎ, mà, then compare with the examples. Repeat only the contrast you find hardest.
Next: light syllables and tone changes.

Key idea

First is level; second rises; third is low; fourth falls. Connected speech can change the surface shape.