🔊 Pinyin Guide
Master Chinese pronunciation with interactive charts and audio
Initials (Consonants)
Finals (Vowels)
🔧 Pinyin Combiner
Click an initial and final to hear them combined
Initial -
+ Final -
= Result -
Chinese Tones
Chinese is a tonal language. The same syllable with different tones has different meanings.
Tone 1 First Tone High and flat mā (妈)
Tone 2 Second Tone Rising má (麻)
Tone 3 Third Tone Falling then rising mǎ (马)
Tone 4 Fourth Tone Falling mà (骂)
Neutral Neutral Tone Light and short ma (吗)
Minimal Pairs
Same syllable, different tones, completely different meanings
māmother 妈
máhemp 麻
mǎhorse 马
màscold 骂
yīone 一
yímove 移
yǐchair 椅
yìmeaning 意
Important Tone Change Rules
1
Third Tone + Third Tone
→ Second Tone + Third Tone
Example: nǐ hǎo → ní hǎo
2
b/p/m/f + o
→ Actually pronounced as "wo"
Example: bo → bwo
3
ü after j/q/x
→ ü → u (written)
Example: jū → ju
4
i after z/c/s
→ Pronounced as buzzing sound
Example: zi
5
i after zh/ch/sh/r
→ Pronounced as retroflex
Example: zhi
🎯 Tone Practice
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