✈ NETCHAI Inbound Chinese Course

Pronunciation Basics ── Tones & Pinyin语音入门　声调与拼音

LESSON
00

01Intro

Chinese pronunciation is written with the spelling of each syllable — Pinyin (a Roman-letter system) — plus the pitch of the sound, the tone. The basic idea is to read Pinyin with its tone. Once you have this, the conversations from Lesson 1 get much easier. It doesn't have to be perfect now; you'll practice it again in every lesson.

02Tones

1st tone

high and flat

2nd tone

rising

3rd tone

dip low, then rise (↘↗)

4th tone

sharp fall

neutral tone

short and light

The same "ma" changes meaning with the tone: 妈 mā (mother)麻 má (hemp)马 mǎ (horse)骂 mà (to scold)吗 ma (question particle)

03Vowels

Single Vowels

a　o　e　i　u　ü

Compound Vowels

ai　ei　ao　ou　ia　ie　ua　uo

Front Nasal (-n)

an　en　in　un　ün

Back Nasal (-ng)

ang　eng　ing　ong

※ These are the main finals. ü has no English equivalent: say "ee" (as in see), then round your lips into a tight circle while keeping the tongue still. After j, q, x the dots are dropped and it is written ju・qu・xu.

04Consonants

Labials

b　p　m　f

Alveolars (tongue-tip)

d　t　n　l

Velars (tongue-root)

g　k　h

Palatals (tongue-surface)

j　q　x

Retroflex

zh　ch　sh　r

Dental sibilants

z　c　s

05Tone Sandhi

Pronunciation Point

Sounds whose spelling stays the same but pronunciation changes

Some sounds keep their written tone marks but soften in actual speech. Learn these three common cases.

① 3rd tone ＋ 3rd tone → 2nd tone ＋ 3rd tone

When two 3rd tones come together, the first is read rising, like a 2nd tone. 你好 is written nǐ hǎo but actually read ní hǎo (the spelling does not change).

② Half 3rd tone

A full 3rd tone dips low and then rises (pitch movement: ↘↗). But when a 1st, 2nd, 4th, or neutral tone follows, the final "rise" is dropped and the voice stays low as it moves to the next sound (↘). This is called the half 3rd tone.

※ It does not mean the sound of 老 disappears or gets swallowed by fast speech. 老 is pronounced clearly. What changes is only the pitch contour — the final rise is omitted. In the examples below, the first 3rd tone (老 lǎo・请 qǐng・你 nǐ) becomes a half 3rd tone.

老lǎo师shīteacher (3rd + 1st). Keep "lǎo" low without rising.
请qǐng问wènMay I ask (3rd + 4th). "qǐng" is a half 3rd tone.
你nǐ们menyou, plural (3rd + neutral). "nǐ" is a half 3rd tone.

③ Tone changes of "不 bù" and "一 yī"

不bú是shì不 is read bú before a 4th tone (不 bù + 4th tone).
一yí个gè一 is read yí before a 4th tone.
一yì起qǐ一 is read yì before a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd tone. Alone or as an ordinal it is yī.

Practice tip: Exaggerate the tones at first — it helps them stick. Listening and imitating is the fastest way.

06Practice

你nǐ好hǎo！

Hello. (actually read ní hǎo)

谢谢xièxie。

Thank you.

不bú客气kèqi。

You're welcome.

对不起duìbuqǐ。

Sorry (apology).

再见zàijiàn！

Goodbye.