How to pronounce
in Mandarin Chinese
diànFourth tonehuàFourth tone
Hear it in conversation
It's called telemarketing
nǐ你kě可yǐ以dǎ打qián前tái台de的diàn电huà话
you can call the front desk.
zài再bǐ比rú如wǒ我men们jiē接dào到le了diàn电huà话
For example, we received a phone call
Select a word for its meaning.
See it in a sentence.
?
What's the number?
。
I want to have a telephone installed.
。
The number is unfortunately busy.
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.