声调

聲調

shēngdiào

noun #20,917

Measure Word

一个声调 gè

Meanings

1 tone (in phonetics)
2 musical tone
3 pitch of voice

Characters

sound; voice; tone

tone; tune; melody

Examples

普通话有四个声调和一个轻声。

Pǔtōnghuà yǒu sì gè shēngdiào hé yī gè qīngshēng.

Mandarin has four tones and one neutral tone.

学好声调是学汉语的关键。

Xué hǎo shēngdiào shì xué Hànyǔ de guānjiàn.

Mastering tones is key to learning Chinese.

Tips

grammar

Mandarin has 4 tones: 1st (ā, high level), 2nd (á, rising), 3rd (ǎ, falling-rising), 4th (à, falling), plus a neutral tone (轻声, qīngshēng). The same syllable with different tones means completely different things: mā (妈 mother), má (麻 hemp), mǎ (马 horse), mà (骂 to scold).

Stroke Order

声 shēng

调 tiáo