Place tone marks and notice common tone changes inside phrases.
About 10–15 minutes for the core practice · Split into two short sessions if helpful · English-guided · All ages
Listen → Learn & blend → Choose → Record & compare → Use it
Listen & notice · Learn & blend
Where the mark goes
Mark a when present; otherwise mark o or e. In iu and ui, mark the second vowel: liù, shuǐ. In a marked i, the tone mark replaces the dot. A light syllable has no tone mark.
Two third tones together
In nǐ hǎo, the first third tone is pronounced with a rising tone before the next third tone. The usual spelling stays nǐ hǎo. Before other tones, a third tone is often low without a full rise.
一 and 不 in phrases
一 is yī in isolation, but usually yí before a fourth tone and yì before first, second or third tones; the ordinal 第一 (dì yī) keeps yī. 不 is normally bù and becomes bú before a fourth tone. Our phrase cards can show the spoken tone: yì qǐ, yí gòng and bú kè qi.
Syllables and words use the original course voice. Separate recordings are used only for simple, compound and nasal finals in the sound reference. For words, focus on the sound named on the card.
Record the two examples marked Practice 1 and Practice 2. Use the other examples whenever you want extra practice.
liù六six
Mark u in liù
shuǐ水water
Mark i in shuǐ
Practice 1nǐ hǎo你好hello
Written nǐ hǎo; first syllable rises in speech
Practice 2yì qǐ一起together
Spoken yì qǐ
yí gòng一共altogether
Spoken yí gòng
bú kè qi不客气you’re welcome
Spoken bú kè qi
Dedicated sound recordings · 5 examples
Listen in small groups. These reference sounds do not add completion tasks. The spellings show the intended targets; in connected speech, notice the spoken tones.
Light syllables in words
bàba爸爸māma妈妈xièxie谢谢
Connected speech and tone changes
zài jiàn再见zǎo shàng hǎo早上好Spoken: zǎo (low third tone) shàng hǎo
Hear & choose · Quick review
Choose an answer for immediate feedback. You can retry; your first answers remain in the review summary.
1. Listen, then choose the CORRECTLY WRITTEN tone mark.
2. Listen, then choose the CORRECTLY WRITTEN tone mark.
3. Listen, then choose the pinyin you hear.
4. Listen, then choose the pinyin you hear.
5. What happens to the first syllable in spoken nǐ hǎo?
6. How is 不 spoken before fourth-tone kè in 不客气?
Use it
Say nǐ hǎo as one natural greeting, then yì qǐ as one word.
Family option: take turns listening, saying the example, and noticing one sound. Stay on this page; no extra materials are needed. Independent option: look away and say it again before recording.
Your practice so far
Finish the six review questions and the two recordings marked Practice 1 and Practice 2 for a practice-complete tick. Listening results and recording completion are separate. No pronunciation score is given.
Progress is saved for the selected learner on this browser. Voice clips stay in this tab and clear when it reloads.
Sources & image credits
Curriculum references: 幼儿汉语 1–4 and 中文 1–12. Lessons are organised by learning themes and include original texts and graded adaptations.
