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Mandarin Chinese 1 Unit 1: Pinyin and tones

Pinyin spells Mandarin sounds with Latin letters. Tones change meaning, so they're as important as the letters.

Covers: Initials and finals, the four tones and the neutral tone, tone marks, tone changes for 不 and 一

Study guide

Mandarin is written with characters, and pinyin is the official system for writing its sounds with the Latin alphabet. Each syllable has an initial (the starting consonant, like b, zh, x or q) and a final (the vowel part, like a, ang, ie or iong). Some initials are tricky for English speakers: q sounds like "ch," x like "sh," zh like "j" with the tongue curled back, c like "ts," and z like "dz." The final ü (written u after j, q, x and y) is said with rounded lips like an "ee."

Mandarin is tonal: the same syllable with a different tone is a different word. The 1st tone (ā) is high and level. The 2nd tone (á) rises, like asking a question. The 3rd tone (ǎ) dips low and then rises, though in normal speech it often stays low. The 4th tone (à) falls sharply, like a command. The neutral tone is light and short and has no mark, as in the second syllable of māma. The classic example is mā (mother), má (hemp), mǎ (horse) and mà (scold).

Tone marks go over the main vowel: on a or e if present, on the o in ou, and otherwise on the last vowel.

Tones change in some combinations (tone sandhi). Two 3rd tones in a row: the first becomes 2nd tone, so nǐ hǎo is said ní hǎo. 不 (bù, "not") becomes 2nd tone before a 4th tone: bú shì. 一 (yī, "one") becomes 4th tone (yì) before 1st, 2nd and 3rd tones and 2nd tone (yí) before a 4th tone, but stays yī when counting or at the end of a word.

When a syllable has no initial, i becomes y (i → yi, ia → ya), u becomes w (u → wu, ua → wa), and ü becomes yu. Three finals are shortened after an initial: iou is written -iu (liù), uei is written -ui (duì), and uen is written -un (lùn). In northern Mandarin, many words add an -r sound written 儿, as in 哪儿 (nǎr, where), 这儿 (zhèr, here) and 一点儿 (yìdiǎnr, a little). The 儿 blends into the syllable before it rather than being said as a separate ér.

Grammatical particles such as 吗, 呢, 了, 的 and 吧 are always in the neutral tone. So is the second syllable of many doubled kinship terms and verbs (爸爸, 看看). Hearing a light, short syllable is often a clue that it's a particle.

Key ideas

• Tone 1 (ā) is high and level; tone 2 (á) rises; tone 3 (ǎ) dips; tone 4 (à) falls.
• The neutral tone is short and light (unmarked): ma in māma.
• mā (mother), má (hemp), mǎ (horse), mà (scold) differ only by tone.
• Two 3rd tones in a row: the first becomes 2nd (nǐ hǎo → ní hǎo).
• 不 (bù) becomes bú before a 4th tone (bú shì).

Formulas and rules

Common mistakes

• Ignoring tones (they change the word).
• Writing tone marks over the wrong vowel (mark a, o or e first).

Words to know

拼音

pinyin (pīnyīn)

声调

tone (shēngdiào)

声母

initial (shēngmǔ)

韵母

final (yùnmǔ)

轻声

neutral tone (qīngshēng)

汉字

Chinese character (Hànzì)

汉语

Chinese language (Hànyǔ)

普通话

Mandarin (Pǔtōnghuà)

妈

mother (mā)

马

horse (mǎ)

你好

hello (nǐ hǎo)

很好

very good (hěn hǎo)

谢谢

thank you (xièxie)

不

not (bù)

一

one (yī)

老师好

hello, teacher (lǎoshī hǎo)

上课

class begins (shàngkè)

下课

class is over (xiàkè)

请问

excuse me, may I ask (qǐngwèn)

请跟我说

repeat after me (qǐng gēn wǒ shuō)

再说一遍

say it again (zài shuō yí biàn)

懂了

understood (dǒng le)

对

correct (duì)

错

wrong (cuò)

Sample practice questions

21 more questions like these, from level 1 to 5, are in the practice set.