How to pronounce
in Mandarin Chinese
shíSecond toneqīFirst tone
Hear it in conversation
🕺nà那shí时hou候jiào叫“战guó国shí时qī期”。
Select a word for its meaning.
See it in a sentence.
。
Desperate times call for desperate measures.
Those were difficult times.
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.