How to pronounce
in Mandarin Chinese
yéSecond toneyeNeutral tone
Hear it in conversation
yé爷ye爷nǎi奶nai奶zǒng总huì会wéi为sūn孙nǚ女
the grandparents always make for their granddaughter
bǐ比rú如wǒ我yé爷ye爷jīng经lì历过shì世jiè界dà大战
For example, my grandfather experienced the world wars
Select a word for its meaning.
See it in a sentence.
Grandpa bought it for me!
How old is your grandfather?
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.