？
When are you going home?
How to pronounce 时候
How to pronounce
in Mandarin Chinese
shí时hou候
time; length of time
HSK 1
Synthesized Mandarin audio · Vivian voice
shíSecond tonehouNeutral tone
Hear it in conversation
The next day when I went to work, I had a headache
Select a word for its meaning.
See it in a sentence.
？
What time does the play begin?
？
When exactly?
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.