How to pronounce
in Mandarin Chinese
sēnFirst tonelínSecond tone
Hear it in conversation
occupy different spaces in the forest.
fā发xiàn现rú如guǒ果yī一gè个rén人zài在sēn森lín林huò或zhě者gōng公yuán园
dàn但wǒ我jiā家fù附jìn近gēn根běn本méi没yǒu有sēn森lín林ā啊。
Select a word for its meaning.
See it in a sentence.
It had rained in the forest.
。
I was a forest.
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.