How to pronounce
in Mandarin Chinese
chǔThird tonecúnSecond tone
Hear it in conversation
Plants store water in the soil.
bǎ把xià下yóu游de的shuǐ水chōu抽dào到shàng上yóu游de的shuǐ水kù库chǔ储cún存
Select a word for its meaning.
Hear the difference
A syllable has a shape.
Tone marks show how pitch changes. Colors help you follow each syllable in the app.
ā →First toneHigh and level
á ↗Second toneRising
ǎ ↘↗Third toneLow, then rising in isolation
à ↘Fourth toneFalling
a ·Neutral toneShort and light
These are dictionary tones. In natural speech, tones can change with context. A third tone often stays low before another syllable.