How to pronounce
in Mandarin Chinese
lǎoThird tone
Hear it in conversation
wǒ我tài太lǎo老le了
I'm too old.
tā他men们bǐ比wǒ我gèng更lǎo老
They are older than me.
Select a word for its meaning.
See it in a sentence.
。
He likes re-watching the old videotapes.
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.