In Mandarin Chinese, the way your voice moves can change the meaning of a word.
Mandarin has 4 main tones and a 5th neutral tone.
Think of tones like little voice paths: flat, rising, dipping, falling, or light.
The tones are usually called 1st tone, 2nd tone,
3rd tone, 4th tone, and the neutral tone.
1
1st Tone
ā
A high, flat sound. Your voice stays steady, like a straight road.
2
2nd Tone
á
A rising sound. It goes up, a bit like asking a question in English.
3
3rd Tone
ǎ
A dipping sound. Your voice goes down, then comes back up.
4
4th Tone
à
A sharp falling sound. Your voice drops quickly and clearly.
5
Neutral Tone
a
A short, light sound. It has no tone mark and is said softly.
Example with ma: mā, má, mǎ, mà, ma
mā
妈
mother
First tone (flat)
má
麻
numb
Second tone (going up)
mǎ
马
horse
Third tone (down and up)
mà
骂
scold
Fourth tone (going down)
ma
吗
question word
Neutral tone (light)
Tiny voice marks can change the meaning completely.
mā is “mother,” but mǎ is “horse.”
Mandarin is a little sound-puzzle.
Use Your Hand to Help
1st tone: Move your hand straight across.
2nd tone: Move your hand upward.
3rd tone: Move your hand down, then up.
4th tone: Move your hand sharply downward.
Neutral tone: Make a small, soft tap.
Neutral Tone Example: bàba
The casual Chinese word for “dad” is bàba.
The first syllable has the 4th tone: bà.
The second syllable becomes light and neutral: ba.
bà
ba
Teacher tip: Say each tone slowly first, then faster. Add hand movements so children can see the voice path.
Pinyin Tones Practice Game
Mandarin Chinese has four main tones and a neutral tone.
Pinyin uses tone marks to show the four main tones:
mā, má, mǎ, mà.
The neutral tone has no mark:
ma.
How to play:
Read the Pinyin syllable and choose its tone.
Earn one point for each correct answer.
Each game has 15 questions.
15 questions0 pointsTake your time
Which tone is this?
The game needs JavaScript to run. If it does not appear,
you can still use the tone guide below.
Keyboard: focus inside the game, press 1–5 to answer,
then press Enter for the next question.
What are the five Pinyin tone choices?
1 · mā
First tone: high and level. Keep the pitch steady.
2 · má
Second tone: rising. Move from a middle pitch to a high pitch.
3 · mǎ
Third tone: low or dipping. In isolation, dip and then rise.
4 · mà
Fourth tone: falling. Start high and drop sharply.
5 · ma
Neutral tone: light and short. It has no written tone mark.
This game practises written tone recognition, not listening
or pronunciation assessment. In connected speech, tones can
change with context. The third tone often stays low, and
neutral-tone pitch depends on the preceding tone.
Questions about Pinyin tones
How many tones does Mandarin Chinese have?
Mandarin Chinese has four main tones and a neutral tone.
Learners sometimes call the neutral tone the fifth tone.
What do Pinyin tone marks mean?
Pinyin tone marks indicate a syllable’s tone.
A flat mark indicates the first tone, a rising mark the
second tone, a dipping mark the third tone, and a falling
mark the fourth tone.
How is the neutral tone written?
The neutral tone is written without a tone mark, as in
ma for the question particle
吗. In this game, choose
“Neutral” or press 5.
Can changing a tone change a Chinese word’s meaning?
Yes. For example,
mā
(妈) means “mother,” while
mǎ
(马) means “horse.”