The four tones of Mandarin

In Mandarin, the pitch of your voice changes the meaning of a word. Mā (mother), má (hemp), mǎ (horse) and mà (to scold) differ only by their tone.

mā妈

Tone 1 · high and flat, held like a sung note.

má麻

Tone 2 · rising, like a surprised 'huh?'

mǎ马

Tone 3 · dips low then rises. In a sentence, often just low.

mà骂

Tone 4 · falls sharply from high to low, like 'No!'

ma吗

Neutral tone · short, light, effortless.

Tone changes (tone sandhi)

Two third tones in a row: the first one becomes a second tone. Nǐ hǎo is said ní hǎo.
不 (bù) becomes bú before a fourth tone: bú shì.
一 (yī) becomes yí before a fourth tone and yì before the other tones: yí gè, yì tiān.

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