There are four full tones in Mandarin pronunciation, and one neutral tone. Let ’ s read out the vowel “ ɑ ” in the four tones.

The first tone is marked as a straight line like this. It has a long and sustained sound (as if singing a note).

The second tone is marked upwards like this. It is a rising tone (start from the lower part of your voice, then go up).

The third tone is marked down and up like this. It is a low and curved tone. Try to go as low as you can and then bounce up.

The fourth tone is marked downwards like this. It is a falling tone (start from the grating highest part of your voice, then go down, as if exclaiming).

The neutral tone has no mark. It is a short and light tone.

Tones should be marked on a vowel. If a word has more than one vowel, the tone should be marked on the main vowel of the word. Vowels are listed in the following order: a, o, e, i, u / ü. As the vowel ‘ a ’ appears first in this list, the tone in the word liao should be marked on the vowel ‘ a ’.

The tones are indicated by numbers in the following groups. Let ’ s mark them on the correct vowels. You can check your answers by clicking on the groups.

liao 2 kua 1 zui 4 xiu 3 yue 4 fei 2 nie 1 l ü e 4 gei 3 hua 1