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Four Tones

sì shēng · 四声 · the four tones

Mandarin is sung
one syllable at a time.

Every syllable carries a pitch shape - high and level, rising, dipping, falling, or light. Tap a tone to hear it hummed and see its shape. Then type any pinyin to hear its melody, drill tone pairs by ear, and ask for phrases or a check of your own pinyin.

Sound plays in this browser. Nothing is recorded.

1 Hear any phrase

Tone marks (nǐ hǎo) or numbers (ni3 hao3), spaced or run together. Add the characters to apply the 一 and 不 changes.

Samples:

said   written, where a rule changes it   levels 1 (low) to 5 (high)

    2 Tone-pair ear drill

    Twenty two-syllable patterns. Listen to learn them, then quiz yourself: hear a hum, tap the pattern.

    Tap a square to hear its word hummed, then said by the device voice if this browser has one.

    3 Phrases or a pinyin check

    The page checks every reply: one valid syllable per character, the tone changes, the tone load and the verdict are all recounted here.

    Pricing as soon as the session is ready...

    4 Take it with you

    Notebook

    Saved to this browser; sign in to keep your phrase sets and checks in your account.