How to pronounce
in Mandarin Chinese
nǚThird toneshìFourth tone
Hear it in conversation
Ms. Wang, her surname is very important
nǐ你kě可yǐ以chēng称hu呼tā他zhāng张nǚ女shì士huò或zhě者zhāng张xiān先sheng生
You can address him as Ms. Zhang or Mr. Zhang
Select a word for its meaning.
See it in a sentence.
I'm a lady.
Ladies first.
Ladies first!
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.