How to pronounce
in Mandarin Chinese
běnThird tonezhìFourth tone
Hear it in conversation
nǐ你de的ròu肉yǎn眼suī虽rán然看bù不chū出lái来míng明xiǎn显de的bù不tóng同,dàn但shì是zhè这ge个miàn面tuán团yǐ已jīng经fā发shēng生le了běn本zhì质de的biàn变huà化。
zhú逐bù步gǎo搞qīng清chu楚le了diàn电de的běn本zhì质
Select a word for its meaning.
See it in a sentence.
。
That is the essence of the matter.
。
The essence of liberty is mathematics.
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.