When do Chinese Tones Change? | Chinese Tone Guide

Introduction to Tone Changes00:00:00

Mandarin is a tonal language, but some characters change their tones in specific contexts to make speech easier to pronounce and understand.

Rules for the character 一 (yī)00:00:44

The character 一 is pronounced in the second tone when followed by a fourth-tone character. When followed by first, second, or third-tone characters, it shifts to the fourth tone. It retains its original first tone in isolated cases or phone numbers.

Rules for the character 不 (bù)00:02:47

The character 不 is natively a fourth-tone word. It only changes to the second tone when it precedes another fourth-tone character, as seen in the word '不要'.

Third Tone Sandhi Rules00:03:20

When two third-tone characters are placed consecutively, the first character is pronounced as a second tone to improve flow and clarity.

Summary and Conclusion00:04:41

A recap of the tone sandhi rules provided. The host encourages students not to overthink the rules but to focus on consistent listening and practice to develop a natural, native-sounding rhythm.