How to pronounce
in Mandarin Chinese
xiāoFirst tonexiNeutral tone
Hear it in conversation
zhè这ge个xiāo消xi息yào要děng等dào到zhōu周wǔ五zǎo早shang上
This message will be received on Friday morning
zài在jié节mù目de的kāi开tóu头,wǒ我shuō说yǒu有yī一gè个xiǎo小xiāo消xi息yào要gào告su诉dà大jiā家。
Select a word for its meaning.
See it in a sentence.
。
I sent you a message.
。
This news is false.
I've got news.
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.