Chapter 7: Tones

To be read with the video Chinese with Mike: Lesson 7

What are tones (shng) ?

Since Chinese is a tonal language, speakers must change their vocal pitch to pronounce words
correctly. Mandarin Chinese has four main tonesfirst tone, second tone, third tone, and
fourth tone--and one neutral tone, which I will cover later. The four major tones are very
important because they allow us to distinguish pnyn words that are spelled the same. Below is
a tone chart to illustrate the where your vocal pitch should be when pronouncing each of the
four tones:

Look at the following sets of words. Each word in each group has the same pnyn spelling, so
the assigned tone lets us know the precise meaning:

First tone Second tone Third tone Fourth tone

m (mom) m (hemp) m (horse) m (to scold)

OR

zh (pig) zh (bamboo) zh (to cook) zh (to live)

*It is also important to note that sometimes there is more than one word that can correspond
with a specific pnyn spelling AND tone. Take a look at the following examples:

dng (a hole) dng (to move) dng (to freeze)

All three pnyn words are spelled the same and are pronounced the same because all are
fourth tone. Therefore, unless you know the specific character that corresponds with eachall
are differentyou must rely on the context of the conversation to know which one is being
used.

The Neutral Tone (

The neutral tone is called the neutral tone because it has never waged war with any of the other
tones. Alright, I lied. Its really called the neutral tone because it has no assigned tone and thus has no
tone mark. It is short and light. Here are a few examples:

ma de ne

These characters can be used to indicate possession, questions, etc. For now, I only want you to note
that they have no tone mark.

Additional Rules of Tones

There are a few rules regarding changes in tones. If there are two third-tone words side-by-side, you
should change the first (third tone) word to a second tone. You are then able to pronounce them more
smoothly. See the examples:

N ho. N ho

Hn ho Hn ho

If there are more than two third tone words strung together, change them according to the
context. Both of the following examples are acceptable:

W hn ho W hn ho OR W hn ho

N hn lo N hn lo OR N hn lo
**While this may frighten you at moment, let me assure you that in my experience, not changing
third tones to second tones in accordance to this rule wont kill a conversation. Instead, given
the context of the conversation, the majority of people will understand exactly what you are
saying. The purists will fight me on this one, but like I said, youll be fine. Do your best to shift
your tones according to the aforementioned rules, but if you mess it up, context usually saves
you.

I hope you understand the basics about tones and their rules. There are a few small technical
aspects that Ill save for later so that youre not overwhelmed. For now, youre good to go!

So now what? Im in the mood to chill out and write some Chinese characters. If this is
something youre interested in, join me in Chapter 8, and I promise that by the end of it, youll be
able to write your first ten Chinese characters. Sweet!

Warning: For those of you who have addictive personalities, you might want to skip
Chapter 8. You may soon find that you are devoting every spare minute you have to
practicing them. How do you think I wound up living in a garage?