How to pronounce
in Mandarin Chinese
xuéSecond tonexiàoFourth tone
Hear it in conversation
I do not work at the school.
mǎ马yún云dāng当zhè这ge个xué学xiào校de的xiào校zhǎng长。
zhè这ge个shàng上xué学de的nián年jì纪jiù就qù去xué学xiào校dú读shū书
Select a word for its meaning.
See it in a sentence.
This is a school.
I am at school.
I go to school.
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.