How to pronounce
in Mandarin Chinese
tóuSecond tonenǎoThird tone
Hear it in conversation
That is what he thinks in his mind
wǒ我men们tóu头nǎo脑zhōng中huàn幻xiǎng想de的
What we imagined in our minds
wǒ我tóu头nǎo脑dāng当zhōng中xiǎng想xiàng象de的xué学sheng生
The student I imagine in my mind
Select a word for its meaning.
See it in a sentence.
。
The brain has a complex structure.
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.