How to Recognize Pinyin Tones

Pinyin is very important for beginners to understand how to read, type, and pronounce Chinese tones. Indeed, if you are a beginning student with KellynKai, you know that Pinyin is taught first. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to remember the tones when studying or in a lesson.  I know because I had difficulty remembering the tones. Therefore, I have detailed the tones and what they look like in this blog article as a reference.

1. First Tone

The first tone is known as the flat tone. It is recognizable by the flat bar above a letter, ā. To pronounce this tone, speak with an elevated pitch and carry it through the letter. ā should sound something like aaa.

2. Second Tone

The second tone rises as it is pronounced. You can tell the second tone by a rising accent on the letter á. This tone starts with a lower pitch and ascends as it is pronounced. The way the pronunciation rises is similar to the way the word “up” rises when spoken.

3. Third Tone

The third tone falls and then rises as it is pronounced. It is identifiable by the v-like accent marker above a letter, ǎ. This tone falls and then rises. The best way to describe the sound is when someone who speaks close to you walks off and then comes back.

4. Fourth Tone

This tone goes straight down as it is pronounced. You can tell that it is the fourth tone by the falling accent marker, à. This tone falls like the word down: it falls through the pronunciation.

Getting all the Pinyin tones down can be tricky; thankfully, the tones look like how they are pronounced. I hope this blog helped you learn the tones.