Chinese Tones Explained

Tones are one of the most intimidating aspects of the Chinese language. If you use Chinese tones like successful learners or native Chinese speakers, they definitely sound it.

In Chinese, if you slightly change the way of speaking a word, it will change the meaning radically. Unfortunately, tones discourage many people from learning the great Chinese language and rich history.

Like other languages, where there are hard concepts, there are also easier ones. Chinese people cover up the difficulty of tones with the simplicity of Chinese grammar.

The reason for having tones in the Chinese language is quite simple. As compared to English, which has about 12,000 variations in sounds, there are about 400 variations in Chinese sounds. So tones are used to make a distinction in identical ones.

So, what do the tones sound like? 

First of all, tones are not a hard concept for English speakers. Tones are also a part of the English language. However, they are just more delicate and have different meanings. But the basic concept is the same in both languages. Understanding the English tones concept is a great way to understand the use of tones in Chinese.

The first tone, ‘mā’ is indicated by the ¯ on top of the last. This tone is difficult to explain, however it is a kind of sound you may make when you get frightened. It is a high sound that is different because it is a continuous tone that doesn't change like the others.

The second tone, ‘má’ is the rising tone that is indicated by the ´ on top of the last. This tone is easy to explain. In the English language, this tone is known as the ‘upwards inflection’ and is used on the last word of the sentence when you want to make it a question. Speak out ‘Are you cold?’ loudly. The rising sound of the word ‘Cold’ is the same as the rising tone in Chinese. So, ‘má’ sounds like you are saying ‘ma?’

The third tone mǎ is the low or dropping tone. It sounds like when your mum asks you to clean the dishes, and you say 'Mum!' But this tone drops down slightly lower than in English.

The fourth tone, mà sounds like when in the classroom you try to call someone at low volume without the teacher hearing. It is like the ‘psst….Dàn’ sound.

My explanations may not completely clear up how to pronounce Chinese tones. But getting the tones in this way will help you accept them as normal, which is essential before you can master their use. I hope after reading my explanation and listening to the tones individually, you likely will not face too much trouble in understanding the concept of tones.

Keep in mind that it takes time to be master in Chinese tones. You have to understand the concept of tones and their uses. Then with practice, you will become a master in it.

How do I get used to using Tones?

There are two ways to be master in Chinese tones, listening to a lot, speaking a lot. Listening always comes first, as it is not possible to start speaking Chinese right away without completely accept the concepts and be familiar with the language.

It is very important to learn the tones of every new vocabulary you learn. If you don’t know the tones of words, you don’t still know the words actually. For example, the word ‘da’ means nothing by itself, but can means ‘to answer’ (dà), ‘to hang over something’ (dā), ‘big’ (dà), or ‘to hit’ (dǎ) depending on the tones. It is not much difficult to understand the tones. However, if you speak the tones incorrectly, it will change the meaning of dialogue.

Try to memorize the tone of the word, and once you remembered the tone, don’t use it too much in dialogue. Listen to the tones over and over and see how it fits in a sentence. Record your speaking practice and compare it to a native Chinese speaker.

When you will get to an advanced level, you will notice a rhythm in your language. You won’t think about the tones of the words individually, you should know what the rhythm of the sentence should sound like.

Take a random English word, I take ‘constitution’. There are four syllables ‘con-sti-tu-tion’. First, speak the word loud slowly, and then speak it faster. Notice where is an emphasis on syllables? In Australian English, the emphasis is on the ‘tu’. Now try it with emphasis on the ‘sti’, you will notice how strange it sounds.

I hope now you have understood that speaking Chinese with the wrong tones is the same as speaking English with the emphasis on the wrong syllable.

Do Chinese people use tones all the time?

You may see that Chinese tones don’t always work the way they are expected to work. Sometimes the combination of tones sounds differently than individual tones. Especially in colloquial speech, tones are usually less emphasized. Their use is reduced but doesn’t disappear overall.

You may find some people saying that tones are very important to learn and people won’t understand you without tones, while some people say that tones are bullshit and they don’t even use tones in regular talking.

Actually, the truth is somewhere in the middle. It does not mean you can learn a language without learning tones. You have to learn them. If you are a beginner, you should overemphasize tones so that your speech will progressively become more natural and native-like. So start practicing the tones as much as you can.