Mandarin Chinese Tones Syllabus

Tones syllabus — full chapter and topic list

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics. This is the whole examinable outline for Tones in Mandarin Chinese, not a summary of it.

1. 1

   The Four Tones and Neutral Tone

   5 topics

   • First Tone (High Level)
   • Second Tone (Rising)
   • Third Tone (Low Dipping)
   • Fourth Tone (Falling)
   • The Neutral Tone
2. 2

   Tone Marks and Placement

   2 topics

   • Where Tone Marks Go
   • Tone Numbers in Typing
3. 3

   Tone Sandhi

   3 topics

   • Third Tone Sandhi
   • Tone Changes of bu
   • Tone Changes of yi
4. 4

   Tone Practice and Memory

   3 topics

   • Tone Pair Drills
   • Common Tone Errors
   • Shadowing and Imitation

Tones flashcards for Mandarin Chinese

24 of 49 cards from the Tones deck — real questions with worked answers.

1. How many main (full) tones does Mandarin Chinese have, and what fifth tone category exists?

   Mandarin has 4 main tones plus a 5th category called the neutral tone (light/toneless), giving 5 tone categories in total.

2. Describe the First Tone (Tone 1) in Mandarin, including its pitch contour and tone mark.

   The First Tone is high and level ("high level"). Pitch stays flat near the top of your range (roughly 5-5 on a 1-5 scale). Its mark is a macron, e.g. mā (妈).

3. Describe the Second Tone (Tone 2) in Mandarin, including its contour and tone mark.

   The Second Tone rises from mid to high (≈ 3-5), like the pitch of a surprised "Huh?" or asking a question. Its mark is an acute accent, e.g. má (麻).

4. Describe the Third Tone (Tone 3) in Mandarin, including its full contour and tone mark.

   The Third Tone is low and dipping: it falls to the bottom of the range then rises (≈ 2-1-4), sometimes called the "falling-rising" tone. Its mark is a caron/háček, e.g. mǎ (马).

5. Describe the Fourth Tone (Tone 4) in Mandarin, including its contour and tone mark.

   The Fourth Tone falls sharply from high to low (≈ 5-1), like a firm command or an emphatic "No!". Its mark is a grave accent, e.g. mà (骂).

6. What is the Neutral Tone, how is it written, and what determines its actual pitch?

   The Neutral Tone is a short, light, unstressed syllable with no tone mark (e.g. ma in 吗). Its pitch is not fixed; it depends on the tone of the preceding syllable.

7. Using the 1-5 pitch scale (1 = lowest, 5 = highest), give the standard pitch numbers for all four tones.

   Tone 1 = 55 (high level), Tone 2 = 35 (rising), Tone 3 = 214 (dip), Tone 4 = 51 (falling).

8. Give the classic single-syllable minimal set (mother, hemp, horse, scold) that illustrates all four Mandarin tones.

   mā (妈, mother), má (麻, hemp), mǎ (马, horse), mà (骂, to scold) — same syllable "ma", four different tones, four different meanings.

9. In pinyin, on which vowel is the tone mark placed when a syllable has multiple vowels? State the priority rule.

   Priority: a and e always take the mark first; if neither is present, o takes it (as in ou); otherwise the mark goes on the last vowel. In the -iu and -ui combinations it goes on the second vowel.

10. Where does the tone mark go in the syllable "jiu" and in "gui"? Explain why.

    jiu → jiǔ and gui → guǐ. In the vowel pairs iu and ui, the tone mark goes on the second (last) vowel.

11. Where is the tone mark placed in "xie" and in "guo"?

    xie → xiè (a/e rule: e takes the mark) and guo → guò (no a or e, so o takes the mark).

12. When a tone mark falls on the letter i, what happens to the dot?

    The dot over the i is dropped and replaced by the tone mark, e.g. lì (力), not lı̀ with a dot.

13. In tone-number typing notation, how are the four tones plus neutral tone written after a syllable?

    Append the digit: 1 = first, 2 = second, 3 = third, 4 = fourth, and 5 (or 0, or nothing) = neutral. Example: ma1 ma2 ma3 ma4 ma5 for mā má mǎ mà ma.

14. When typing pinyin with tone numbers, how do you write “nǐ hǎo” and “xièxie”?

    nǐ hǎo → ni3 hao3; xièxie → xie4xie5 (or xie4xie, the second syllable being neutral).

15. State the basic rule of Third Tone Sandhi when two third tones occur in a row.

    When a third tone is immediately followed by another third tone, the first one changes to a second (rising) tone. Written 3+3, pronounced 2+3.

16. How is “nǐ hǎo” (你好) actually pronounced due to third tone sandhi?

    Although written nǐ hǎo (3+3), it is pronounced ní hǎo (2+3): the first third tone becomes a rising second tone.

17. How does a third tone change when it is followed by a first, second, or fourth tone (or a neutral tone)? Name this variant.

    Before any non-third tone (1st, 2nd, 4th, or neutral), the third tone becomes a “half third tone”: only the low falling part is pronounced, without the final rise.

18. Apply third tone sandhi to three consecutive third tones (e.g. wǒ hěn hǎo). What are the two common patterns?

    Three third tones split by meaning. Commonly 3+3+3 becomes 2+2+3 (e.g. wǒ hěn hǎo → wó hén hǎo), or, if the last two group together, 3+(3+3) → half-3 + 2 + 3.

19. What is the default (dictionary) tone of 不 (bu), and what is its tone change rule?

    不 is normally fourth tone: bù. But when followed by another fourth tone, it changes to second tone: bú.

20. How is 不 pronounced in “bù hǎo” versus “bú dùi” (不对)? Explain the difference.

    bù hǎo (不好): 不 stays fourth tone because hǎo is third tone. bú dùi (不对): 不 becomes second tone because dùi is fourth tone.

21. What is the isolated/dictionary tone of 一 (yi), the number one?

    In isolation and when read as a number/at the end, 一 is first tone: yī.

22. State the tone change rules for 一 (yi) before other tones.

    一 becomes fourth tone (yì) before a first, second, or third tone; it becomes second tone (yí) before a fourth tone. It stays yī when standing alone or as a final digit/ordinal.

23. Give the pronunciation of 一 in yī tiān (一天), yì nián... wait— give yì + 1st/2nd/3rd examples for 一.

    一 → yì before 1st/2nd/3rd tones: yì tiān (一天, one day), yì nián (一年, one year), yì bǎ… e.g. yì qiān. Example before 4th tone: yí yàng (一样), yí dìng (一定).

24. How is 一 pronounced in the ordinal “dì-yī” (第一) and in “yī yì yī” numbers? State the exception.

    When 一 is used as an ordinal or read as a bare number/digit (e.g. dì-yī 第一 “first”, or reciting 1-2-3), it keeps its original first tone yī and does not change.

See more Tones flashcards →

Planning Tones for Mandarin Chinese

Tones (Mandarin Chinese) FAQ