Chinese Tones Explained — The 4 Tones (and the Neutral One)
In Mandarin, the same syllable said with a different pitch is a different word — mā is “mother”, mà is “to scold”. Tones aren’t decoration, they’re part of the word. Here is how the five of them work.
Updated Juni 2026
Mandarin is a tonal language: the pitch you say a syllable with is part of the word, not just expression. The classic example is the syllable ma, which is a completely different word in each tone.
High and level — hold a single, steady high note.
Rising — like the questioning lift in English “huh?”.
Low dipping — falls, bottoms out, then rises a little.
Sharp falling — a firm, top-to-bottom “No!”.
Neutral — light, short and quick, with no tone of its own.
How tone marks work in pinyin
In pinyin the tone is written as an accent over the main vowel: ā á ǎ à for tones 1–4, and no mark for the neutral tone. Throughout this site characters are tinted by tone — rose for 1st, orange for 2nd, green for 3rd, blue for 4th and grey for neutral — so you absorb the tone every time you read.
Practice what you just learned
Read real Chinese with tap-to-reveal pinyin, tone colors and audio — and save words to spaced-repetition flashcards.