pronouncekit

PRONUNCIATION RULE

mā má mǎ mà: two-syllable tone patterns

Practice Mandarin tones in pairs, because most words have two syllables. Work through common tone patterns with real words.

mā má mǎ mà

Mouth & tongue

Enable JavaScript to view the 3D panda. Pronunciation steps remain available below.

Vocal folds: vibrating

TongueTeethUvula

Simplified human pronunciation. The small uvula hangs from the palate; it is not the vocal folds. The wave indicates voicing.

Nasal: the soft palate lowers; air exits the nose

Sound to demonstrate
Tone

High and level, around 55 on the five-level pitch scale.

Voice settings

The mouth starts slightly open. Movement is slowed for observation; the synthetic sound plays once at its original speed. Pause holds the current mouth shape; reset returns to the relaxed position. The panda is a symbolic teaching aid for human pronunciation, not animal anatomy. A simplified teaching model, not a measured or anatomically validated simulation. It shows the soft palate lowering for nasal sounds, but not airflow. Single syllables use eSpeak NG, a synthetic voice on your device. Its pitch range is narrower than natural speech, so use the tone diagrams and word buttons as well. Words and sentences use a voice from your browser or device when one is available. No native recordings are bundled.

Words to practice

Sentence to practice

Listen and compare

The vowels and consonants stay the same; only the tones separate these words.

Pinyin here shows dictionary tones. Spoken tones change in some contexts, such as nǐ hǎo; see the lessons on tone changes.

What you are learning

Isolated tones are only the start. Most real words have two syllables, and each tone influences its neighbor. Learning pairs helps you keep tones in connected speech.

What your mouth is doing

Keep the end of one tone connected to the start of the next. A first tone ends high and a fourth tone ends low, so the next tone may need a jump. A low third tone also needs a clear jump up to the next syllable.

Compared with English

English pitch follows the sentence, so its melody can move freely across a word. In Mandarin each syllable has its own contour, while sentence intonation adds to it rather than replacing it.

Build the sound, step by step

  1. Say each tone by itself on one vowel: ā, á, ǎ, à.
  2. Say a pair slowly, then at normal speed: jīntiān, míngtiān, zuótiān.
  3. Put the pair in a short sentence without losing either tone.

What to watch for

  • Letting an English sentence melody flatten or reverse the tone changes the word.
  • Pausing between syllables to place each tone breaks the word. Connect them.

Related lessons

Keep practicing

References & editorial notes

PronounceKit wrote this lesson as practical guidance for English speakers, based on the references below. The comparisons are editorial teaching suggestions. It describes common Mainland Standard Mandarin patterns, not every accent or regional variety, and it has not been independently reviewed by a pronunciation specialist or Mandarin teacher.

Published 5 November 2026