[fluentu-toc]<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Learning the Four Tones with Ma<\/em><\/h2>\nIf you are learning Mandarin as a speaker of a non-tonal language, such as English, you first need to get familiar with the four tones<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/lite-youtube><\/p>\nLet’s get acquainted with these four tones using our base word<\/strong>,\u00a0ma.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0You will notice that different tones yield different meanings of this word.<\/p>\n\n- First tone.<\/strong> This tone is pronounced with a high and flat pitch. Keep your voice steady; your pitch does not need to be unnaturally high, though it helps to exaggerate all of these tones when you are first learning.\n
\n- Example: \u5988<\/strong>\u00a0(m\u0101)<\/em> \u2014 mother<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- Second tone.<\/strong> This is a rising tone. Start at a neutral pitch; your voice should rise until it matches the pitch of your first tone.\n
\n- Example: \u9ebb<\/strong>\u00a0(m\u00e1)<\/em> \u2014 hemp.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- Third tone.<\/strong> This tone dips low before rising again.\n
\n- Example: \u9a6c<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>(m\u01ce)<\/em> \u2014 horse.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- Fourth tone.<\/strong> This tone starts at the neutral tone or slightly higher, then falls sharply.\n
\n- Example: \u9a82<\/strong>\u00a0(m\u00e0)<\/em> \u2014 to scold.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- Fifth or neutral tone.<\/strong> Some words in Mandarin do not have a tone; they are toneless, or neutral.\n
\n- Example: \u5417<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>(ma<\/em>) <\/em>\u2014 particle indicating a question.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Sometimes the tones are marked with numbers instead of the usual pinyin marks. They’re simple to learn:<\/p>\n
\n- First tone: m\u0101<\/em>, ma1<\/li>\n
- Second tone: m\u00e1<\/em>, ma2<\/li>\n
- Third tone: m\u01ce<\/em>, ma3<\/li>\n
- Fourth tone: m\u00e0<\/em>, ma4<\/li>\n
- Neutral tone: ma<\/em>, ma<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
The neutral tone is frequently left unnumbered<\/strong> when it appears in\u00a0pinyin<\/em>. However, you may occasionally see it written as ma5<\/em>.<\/p>\nA strong command of these tone mark denotations will help your reading fluency and speaking accuracy. On some computer input methods, you can even sort characters by tone to locate the word you want more quickly.<\/p>\n
Using mnemonic devices like hand gestures<\/a> and amping up your Chinese listening practice<\/a> are great ways to master tones. You can also use the FluentU program<\/a> to hear the tones in practice. FluentU<\/strong> takes authentic videos\u2014like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks\u2014and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.<\/p>\r\n<\/p>\r\n
You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download the iOS app<\/a> or Android app.<\/a><\/p>\r\n
Let’s get acquainted with these four tones using our base word<\/strong>,\u00a0ma.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0You will notice that different tones yield different meanings of this word.<\/p>\n Sometimes the tones are marked with numbers instead of the usual pinyin marks. They’re simple to learn:<\/p>\n The neutral tone is frequently left unnumbered<\/strong> when it appears in\u00a0pinyin<\/em>. However, you may occasionally see it written as ma5<\/em>.<\/p>\n A strong command of these tone mark denotations will help your reading fluency and speaking accuracy. On some computer input methods, you can even sort characters by tone to locate the word you want more quickly.<\/p>\n Using mnemonic devices like hand gestures<\/a> and amping up your Chinese listening practice<\/a> are great ways to master tones. You can also use the FluentU program<\/a> to hear the tones in practice. FluentU<\/strong> takes authentic videos\u2014like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks\u2014and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.<\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\n You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download the iOS app<\/a> or Android app.<\/a><\/p>\r\n\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
![\"FluentU](\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/NativeAd-Chinese.jpg\")
\r\n