The Four Mandarin Chinese Tones

Tones are an essential part of proper pronunciation. In Mandarin Chinese, many characters have the same sound. Therefore tones are necessary when speaking Chinese in order to differentiate words from each other.   Four Tones There are four tones in Mandarin Chinese, which are: First tone: a level and higher pitchSecond tone: rising, start from a lower pitch and end  at a slightly higher pitchThird tone:  falling rising, start at a neutral tone then dip to a lower pitch before ending at a higher pitchFourth tone:  falling, start the syllable at a slightly higher than neutral pitch then go quickly and strongly downwards Reading and Writing Tones Pinyin uses either numbers or tone marks to indicate the tones. Here is the word ‘ma’ with numbers and then tone marks: First tone: ma1 or mÄ Second tone: ma2 or mà ¡Third tone: ma3 or mÇŽFourth tone: ma4 or mà   Note that  there is also a neutral tone in Mandarin. Its not considered a separate tone, but it is an unaccented syllable. For example,  Ã¥â€"Ž / Ã¥ â€" (ma) or  Ã© º ¼ / ä ¹Ë† (me).   Pronunciation Tips As mentioned earlier, tones are used to determine which Mandarin Chinese word is being implied. For example, the meaning of  mÇŽ (horse) is very different from mÄ  (mother). Thus when learning new vocabulary, it is really important to practice both the pronunciation of the word and its tone. The wrong tones can change the meaning of your sentences. The following table of tones has sound clips which allow you to hear the tones. Listen to each tone and try to mimic it as closely as possible. Pinyin Chinese Character Meaning Sound Clip m (trad) / (simp) mother audio m hemp audio m / horse audio m / scold audio