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Yingo

Free course · 24 chapters

Learn Mandarin tones, properly.

The complete path from "what even is a tone?" to confident, sandhi-aware speech — in plain English, with hanzi + pinyin examples and the pitch shapes drawn out. Free, no sign-up.

Start chapter 1 → Read the blog

What you'll master

  • Hearing & saying all four tones + the neutral tone
  • Tone pairs — how tones really behave in words
  • Sandhi: why 你好 is said ní hǎo
  • A practice routine that actually sticks
1

Foundations

  1. 1 What Are Mandarin Tones? A Beginner's Guide What are Mandarin tones? A tone is the pitch shape of a syllable that changes a word's meaning. Why Mandarin uses them and why English ears miss them.
  2. 2 Why Tones Change Meaning: mā má mǎ mà The ma ma ma ma Chinese example: how mā má mǎ mà (妈麻马骂) become four different words, and why tones in Chinese are as lexical as consonants.
  3. 3 How to Read Pinyin Tone Marks How to read pinyin tone marks: the four marks ˉ ˊ ˇ ˋ, where tone marks go on the vowel, why neutral tone has no mark, and how to type them.
  4. 4 The Chinese Tone Chart & 5-Level Pitch Scale Read any Chinese tone chart: Chao's 1–5 pitch scale, the 55 / 35 / 214 / 51 tone numbers, and why Mandarin pitch is relative, not absolute.
  5. 5 How Many Tones Does Mandarin Have? How many tones does Mandarin have? Four main tones plus a neutral tone — so you'll see 'four' or 'five.' Why both answers are right.
2

The Four Tones

  1. 6 The First Tone (mā): High and Level How to pronounce the first tone in Mandarin: a high, flat 55 pitch held steady like a sung note. Common mistakes and real examples with 妈, 八, and 天.
  2. 7 The Second Tone (má): Rising How to pronounce the second tone in Mandarin: a rising 35 pitch like a surprised 'huh?'. It must climb all the way to the top. Real examples with 麻, 谁, and 来.
  3. 8 The Third Tone (mǎ): Low, Not Just Dipping The third tone in Mandarin is the low tone, not the dipping tone. The full 214 dip is the minority case — its real job is to sink to the bottom of your range.
  4. 9 The Fourth Tone (mà): Sharp Falling How to pronounce the fourth tone in Mandarin: a sharp 51 fall from the top of your range straight down, like an annoyed 'No!'. Real examples with 骂, 不, and 是.
  5. 10 Tone 2 vs Tone 3: The Hardest Contrast Tone 2 vs tone 3 is the hardest Mandarin contrast for English speakers. The trick: listen to the START — tone 2 rises right away, tone 3 dips low first. Drills inside.
  6. 11 The Neutral Tone (轻声): The Fifth Tone The neutral tone in Mandarin (轻声, qīngshēng) is short, light, and toneless — its pitch depends on the tone before it. Examples: 妈妈, 谢谢, 的. The 'fifth tone' explained.
3

Tones in Words

  1. 12 What Are Tone Pairs? Tones in Real Words Mandarin tone pairs explained: most Chinese words are two syllables, so learn the 20 two-syllable tone combinations as single melodies, not isolated tones.
  2. 13 First- and Fourth-Tone Pairs First tone pairs and fourth tone pairs in Mandarin: drill 1+1, 1+2, 1+3, 1+4 and 4+1 through 4+4 with real words like 飞机, 中国, and 谢谢.
  3. 14 Second-Tone Pairs Second tone pairs in Mandarin: master the rising tone as a starting syllable with 2+1, 2+2, 2+3, 2+4 using real words like 银行, 学习, and 啤酒.
  4. 15 Third-Tone Pairs & the Half-Third Third tone pairs and the half-third tone in Mandarin: before tones 1, 2, 4 and neutral the third tone only dips and never rises — 老师, 美国, 笔记 explained.
  5. 16 Neutral-Tone Words: 妈妈, 谢谢, 朋友 Neutral tone words in Mandarin: how 妈妈, 谢谢 and 朋友 use the light 轻声, plus reduplication (看看) and the suffixes 子, 头, 的 explained for learners.
4

Tone Change Rules

  1. 17 Third-Tone Sandhi: Why nǐ hǎo Becomes ní hǎo Third-tone sandhi explained: the 3+3 → 2+3 tone change rule in Mandarin, why 你好 is really ní hǎo, and the difference between underlying and surface tones.
  2. 18 The Tone Changes of yī (一) The yī tone change rule explained: 一 is first tone alone but shifts to yì before tones 1, 2, 3 and to yí before a fourth tone — with 一个, 一样, 一起, 一天.
  3. 19 The Tone Changes of bù (不) The bù tone change rule explained: 不 is fourth tone by default but becomes bú before another fourth tone — with 不是, 不对, 不去 — and how it differs from 一.
  4. 20 Multiple Third Tones & Chunking How multiple third tones work in Mandarin: why 我很好 isn't all rises, how chunking by meaning decides where sandhi applies, and why you shouldn't compute tones live.
5

Real-World & Mastery

  1. 21 Tones in Connected & Fast Speech Tones in connected speech explained: do natives hit every tone in fast Mandarin? How reduction, stress, and neutral tones reshape pitch in real talk.
  2. 22 Minimal Pairs to Drill (水饺 vs 睡觉) Mandarin minimal pairs for tone practice: drill shuǐjiǎo vs shuìjiào and a list of one-tone-difference words like 买/卖 and 汤/糖 to sharpen your ear.
  3. 23 Tones vs Intonation: Questions & Emotion Mandarin tones vs intonation explained: how lexical tone, 吗 question intonation, and emotion coexist without turning every word into a rising tone.
  4. 24 How to Practice Mandarin Tones: A Routine That Works How to practice Mandarin tones with a routine that works: perception first, minimal pairs, pair drilling, record-and-compare, and little-and-often reps.