A little understanding. A lot of possibility.

A practical guide to Zhuyin tones.

Understand the tone marks, learn where they belong, and connect written Zhuyin to spoken Mandarin.

A syllable includes both its sounds and its tone. Compare 媽ㄇㄚ (mā, mother) with 馬ㄇㄚˇ (mǎ, horse): the sound symbols match, but the tone changes.

The drawings below are simple practice contours, not measurements of every speaker. Pitch in connected speech also depends on the surrounding syllables.

First tone

No mark

High and level

Keep the pitch steady in your comfortable upper range.

媽ㄇㄚmā · mother

Keyboard Space

Second tone

Rising

Move upward through the syllable.

麻ㄇㄚˊmá · hemp

Keyboard 6

Third tone

Low; a dip in isolation

Start with the low part. A full dip and rise is a practice form for a syllable said on its own.

馬ㄇㄚˇmǎ · horse

Keyboard 3

Fourth tone

Falling

Let the pitch fall clearly through the syllable.

罵ㄇㄚˋmà · to scold

Keyboard 4

Light and short

The neutral tone

The neutral tone uses a dot: ˙ㄇㄚ, as in the question particle 嗎 (ma). It is shorter and less prominent than a full-tone syllable. Its pitch is influenced by the preceding tone.

In horizontal writing, put the dot before the syllable. With vertically arranged Zhuyin, it goes above the symbols. On this keyboard, enter the sound symbols first and press 7 for the neutral-tone input.

Where does the mark go?

First tone: ordinary Zhuyin usually leaves its mark out. The syllable still has a tone.
Second, third and fourth: the mark goes at the upper right of the final symbol.
Neutral: the dot goes before a horizontal syllable, or above a vertical one.

ㄇㄚㄇㄚˊㄇㄚˇㄇㄚˋ˙ㄇㄚ

Typing conventions and printed placement serve different jobs. The input box may show a tone after the sound symbols while you enter a syllable.

A useful first tone change

In 你好, the two dictionary readings are nǐ and hǎo. When spoken together, the first third tone normally changes to a rising tone: ní hǎo.

Written / typednǐ hǎoSpoken togetherní hǎo

Keep the dictionary tones when following our typing lesson. Hearing a change in a phrase does not mean that you should replace every written third-tone mark.

Further reading: The Open University · Tone changes.

Check what you noticed

Three small tone questions

Choose an answer. The explanation is available whenever you need it.

1Which tone does ㄇㄚ have when no tone mark is written?

First toneNeutral toneNo tone

2Which is the standard horizontal spelling for neutral-tone ma?

ㄇㄚˇ˙ㄇㄚㄇㄚˊ

3Which key enters the third-tone mark on this Dachen keyboard?

643

Tone notation reference: Taiwan Ministry of Education · Tonal marks. Pitch diagrams and explanations on this page are original study aids.

Keep going

Learn Zhuyin

37-symbol chartMeet all 37 Zhuyin symbols, see them in real words, and find their keys on a standard Dachen keyboard. Pronunciation & annotationsExplore Chinese words with Zhuyin and Pinyin, then make an annotated reading sheet of your own. Typing practiceBuild confidence one word at a time. Practice the sounds and their keyboard positions, with hints when you need them.