Hello everyone, I’m Grace.
Today I’m going to tell you the rules of changing tones in Chinese.
For example, you may see a word marked in the third tone,
but in our daily life, sometimes people pronounce it with the second tone.
Also, there are two extremely common characters in Chinese
that change their tones depending on the context.
Let’s find them out in this video!
So as you may know, Mandarin is a tonal language,
so each Chinese character has its own tone.
But under some conditions, certain tones change
because it makes it much easier for the listeners to understand.
Now let’s take a look at these rules:
The first one,
Remember these two characters:
一, which means one, and 不 means no or not.
These two characters are pronounced differently depending on the character following them.
Let’s talk about their rules:
When 一 appears in phone numbers, dates or at the end of a word, like 唯一,
it is pronounced as its original tone which is the first tone.
But when 一 combines with a character in the fourth tone,
一 should be pronounced in the second tone.
like, 一半、一定
When 一 is followed by characters with other tones,
the first, second, or third tones, it changes into the fourth tone.
Let’s see some examples:
Here 一 is followed by “說” which has the first tone,
so 一 gets the fourth tone.
Here 一 is followed by “直” which has the second tone,
so 一 gets the fourth tone.
In this sentence, 一 is followed by “點” which has the third tone,
so 一 gets the fourth tone.
So remember, “一” gets the fourth tone
if it is combined with a character with the first tone, the second tone or the third tone.
But when it is combined with a character with the fourth tone,
it gets the second tone.
OK, now let’s talk about the rule of “不”.
This one is easier.
The original tone of 不 is the fourth tone.
In most cases it remains with its original tone - the fourth tone,
only when it connects to another fourth tone character would it change into the second tone.
For example,
不要
because “要” has the fourth tone, 不 gets the second tone.
OK let’s move on to the next rule:
This rule is about the third tone.
Sometimes you might hear native speakers pronounce the third tone like the second tone.
We will talk about how this works soon,
but first, let’s see how we normally pronounce the third tone.
Let’s take a look at this picture.
The third tone is pronounced in a low pitch.
To pronounce the third tone, you just start from a low pitch and then go down a bit.
For example, if you want to say “You’re the best”,
you can say “你最好了”.
Here, “你” and “好” are in the third tone.
They both start from a low pitch and then go down a bit.
Let’s listen to it again: 你最好了
OK, now let’s see when the third tone changes.
Normally we just pronounce the third tone with a low pitch and then go down a bit.
But when the third tone is followed by another third tone,
you should pronounce the first one like the second tone.
For example:
你好（Hello）
想法（thought）
雨傘（umbrella）
We pronounce the first one like the second tone
so it is more distinguishable and easier for listeners to understand.
OK, after knowing the rules of changing tones in Chinese,
Let’s have a quick recap:
So when do Chinese tones change?
When you encounter these two characters “一” and “不”,
in certain conditions, you need to change their tones.
Like if “一” is followed by a character with the fourth tone,
the tone of 一 would change into the second tone.
But if “一” is followed by characters with other tones, the first, second, or third tone,
its tone would change into the fourth tone.
As for the tone changing rule of “不”,
In most cases “不” remains with its original tone - the fourth tone,
only when it is followed by another fourth tone character
would its tone change into the second tone. like “不要”.
And another tone change rule is about the third tone.
Normally we just pronounce the third tone with a low pitch and then go down a bit.
But when the third tone is followed by another third tone,
you should pronounce the first one like the second tone.
For instance, 你好（Hello）、想法（thought）.
OK, That’s all for today!
I know it is a bit hard to immediately get used to these rules.
The thing is that you don’t have to push yourself too hard.
Now that you have the tips to pronouncing them,
you just need to listen more and practice more.
Gradually you will get a sense for pronouncing them
and sounding like a native speaker!
Alright, I’ll see you next time, bye!