How to pronounce
in Mandarin Chinese
bìFourth tonemiǎnThird tone
Hear it in conversation
To avoid this awkwardness
shì是bì避miǎn免yī一個fēi非cháng常zhòng重yào要de的關鍵
wǒ我men们zěn怎me么bì避miǎn免wù误jiě解ne呢?
Select a word for its meaning.
See it in a sentence.
Try to avoid overdoing it.
That's avoidable.
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.