How to pronounce
in Mandarin Chinese
yāoFirst tone
Hear it in conversation
yāo腰yě也hěn很suān酸,tuǐ腿hǎo好xiàng像dōu都bù不huì会dòng动le了。
Select a word for its meaning.
See it in a sentence.
,。
He has back pain, he can't bend over.
。
We went halfway up the mountain.
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.