Pinyin • Tones
Mandarin Chinese Tones — Complete Guide to Tone Marks and Rules
Mandarin is a tonal language — the pitch contour of a syllable is part of its meaning, not just its expression. The same syllable pronounced with a different tone is a completely different word: mā (妈, mother), má (麻, hemp), mǎ (马, horse), and mà (骂, scold) share identical consonants and vowels but mean entirely different things.
Standard Mandarin has four tones plus a neutral (unstressed) tone. Tones are indicated in pinyin by diacritical marks (ā á ǎ à) placed over the main vowel of the final. In addition to their basic tones, several common words undergo tone sandhi — predictable changes when certain tone combinations appear in sequence.
The Four Tones + Neutral Tone
Tone contours are described on a scale of 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest). For example, “35” means the pitch starts at level 3 and rises to level 5.
Contour: 55 (High Level)
Hold a steady, flat, high pitch — like sustaining a musical note. It does not rise or fall.
Imagine a robot speaking at a monotone high pitch.
Contour: 35 (Rising)
Start at mid pitch and rise sharply to high — like asking a surprised question in English: "What?"
Your voice rises like when you didn't hear something and ask again.
Contour: 214 (Low Dipping)
Start at mid pitch, dip down low, then rise back up. In natural speech (especially before other syllables), only the low dip is heard — the rise is often omitted.
Like a thoughtful "hmm" — your voice dips low in reflection.
Contour: 51 (Falling)
Start high and fall sharply and decisively to low — like a firm command or an emphatic statement.
Like saying "No!" in English — sharp, decisive, falling.
Contour: 0 (Neutral/Unstressed)
A short, light syllable with no fixed pitch — it takes on a pitch influenced by the preceding tone. Written without any tone mark.
It floats — quick and toneless, like the '-er' in English 'butter'.
Tone Mark Placement Rules
When a final contains more than one vowel, a specific rule determines which vowel receives the tone mark. These rules are systematic and apply without exception.
Whenever a or e appears in the final, it takes the tone mark — regardless of position.
māo (mao)jiě (jie)xuě (xue)In the compound final -ou, the tone mark goes on the o.
gǒu (gou — dog)hòu (hou — after)-ui is actually -uei and -iu is actually -iou. The mark goes on the final vowel of the full form: i in -ui, u in -iu.
guì (gui — expensive)liú (liu — flow)If none of the above rules apply, use this vowel priority order to find which vowel gets the tone mark.
xiān (xian — first)lüè (lüe — brief)Tone Sandhi Rules
Tone sandhi (声调变音, shēngdiào biànyīn) refers to predictable tone changes that happen when certain syllables appear in sequence. These are properties of spoken Mandarin — standard written pinyin usually shows the underlying (citation) tone, not the sandhi form.
Third-Tone Sandhi (Two 3rd Tones in Sequence)
When two 3rd-tone syllables appear in sequence, the first syllable changes to 2nd tone. Only the second syllable keeps the 3rd tone (or the low dip form).
Note: This change is NOT reflected in standard written pinyin — you write nǐ hǎo but say níhǎo. The written form preserves the underlying tone.
不 (bù) Tone Sandhi
不 bù is normally 4th tone. But before another 4th-tone syllable, it changes to 2nd tone: bú.
Note: Before 1st, 2nd, and 3rd tones, 不 stays as bù. Only before a 4th tone does it become bú.
一 (yī) Tone Sandhi
一 yī (one) is normally 1st tone. Its tone changes depending on what follows:
Note: Like 不, the change is not written in standard pinyin — you write yī but the spoken tone varies by context.