Smart Coach · Speaking
Pinyin & Tones
A beginner foundation for reading Pinyin, hearing Mandarin tones, and pronouncing common syllables clearly.
What is Pinyin?
Pinyin is the standard Roman-letter spelling system used to show the pronunciation of Standard Mandarin. A Mandarin syllable usually combines an initial sound, a final sound, and a tone. For example, mā = m + a + first tone.
initial + final + tone → one Mandarin syllable
The four tones + neutral tone
Tone is part of the word. Changing the pitch pattern can change the meaning, so learn the sound and the tone together from the beginning.
mā
妈
high and level
Keep the pitch high and steady.
mother
má
麻
rising
Start mid and rise, like a questioning “huh?”
hemp
mǎ
马
low / dipping
Keep it low; when said alone it can dip and rise.
horse
mà
骂
falling
Start high and fall sharply.
to scold
ma
吗
neutral and light
Say it briefly and lightly; it has no fixed full tone contour.
question particle
Initials: how syllables begin
These are the most important beginner contrasts. Focus on tongue position and airflow rather than English spelling habits.
Air contrast
b / p
Both are voiceless in Mandarin; p has a stronger puff of air.
爸爸
bàba
dad
朋友
péngyou
friend
d / t
t has a stronger puff of air than d.
大
dà
big
他
tā
he
g / k
k has a stronger puff of air than g.
哥哥
gēge
older brother
看
kàn
look / watch
Front-tongue sounds
j / q / x
Keep the tongue forward. q has a clear burst of air; x is soft and hissy.
家
jiā
home
去
qù
go
学习
xuéxí
study
z / c / s
Keep the tongue forward; c is the strongly aspirated member of this group.
坐
zuò
sit
菜
cài
dish / vegetable
四
sì
four
Tongue-back / curled group
zh / ch / sh / r
The tongue is farther back than for z/c/s. Do not pronounce zh/ch/sh as separate English letters.
中国
Zhōngguó
China
吃
chī
eat
是
shì
to be
人
rén
person
Finals: how syllables end
Finals carry the vowel sound and may end with -n or -ng. Say the whole final smoothly as one sound unit.
Simple finals
a · o · e · i · u · ü
These are the core vowel shapes used to build syllables.
八
bā
我
wǒ
喝
hē
你
nǐ
不
bù
女
nǚ
Common vowel combinations
ai · ei · ao · ou · ia · ie · ua · uo · üe
Keep the whole final connected as one syllable rather than reading each letter separately.
来
lái
杯
bēi
好
hǎo
有
yǒu
家
jiā
写
xiě
Nasal finals
an · en · ang · eng · ong · in · ing
Listen for the ending: -n and -ng are different endings in Mandarin.
看
kàn
很
hěn
忙
máng
冷
lěng
中
zhōng
您
nín
Pronunciation rules beginners should know
ü after j, q, x and y
After j, q, x and y, the two dots are normally omitted in spelling, but the sound is still ü. So 去 qù and 学 xué use the ü-family sound, not ordinary u.
去
qù
go
学习
xuéxí
study
Third-tone pair
When two third-tone syllables come together, the first is normally pronounced with a rising second-tone contour in connected speech. The underlying tone spelling stays third tone, so 你好 is written nǐ hǎo but pronounced ní hǎo. Listen to several common examples and notice the first syllable change.
你好
nǐ hǎo → ní hǎo
hello
很好
hěn hǎo → hén hǎo
very good
可以
kě yǐ → ké yǐ
can / may
水果
shuǐ guǒ → shuí guǒ
fruit
老虎
lǎo hǔ → láo hǔ
tiger
不 before a fourth tone
不 is normally bù. Before another fourth-tone syllable, it is pronounced bú in connected speech. The examples below show the underlying form first and the spoken tone change after the arrow.
不是
bù shì → bú shì
is not / no
不要
bù yào → bú yào
do not / do not want
不去
bù qù → bú qù
not go / not going
不会
bù huì → bú huì
cannot / will not
不对
bù duì → bú duì
not correct
Do not read Pinyin exactly like English
Pinyin uses familiar Latin letters, but several letters represent Mandarin-specific sounds. Always learn the sound from Mandarin audio, then use the spelling as a guide.
请
qǐng
please
谢谢
xièxie
thank you
中国
Zhōngguó
China
Where does the tone mark go?
Tone marks are written over a vowel. These simple rules cover the beginner patterns you will see most often.
- 1If a syllable contains a, put the tone mark on a: hǎo.
- 2If there is no a but there is e, mark e: xué.
- 3In ou, mark o: dōu.
- 4Otherwise mark the later vowel: liù, guì.
- 5The neutral tone normally has no tone mark: ma, de, ne.
A 3-step pronunciation routine
Listen once at Normal speed.
Replay at Slow speed and copy the pitch movement.
Say the whole word or phrase naturally, not letter by letter.
你好 · nǐ hǎo · Hello
Ready to practise?
Mandarin Nexus audio gives you a pronunciation model. Speaking scores elsewhere in the app are transcript-based and do not claim acoustic tone or accent measurement.