Mandarin is a tonal language: the pitch you use while saying a syllable is part of its meaning, not just an accent. The syllable ma means four completely different things depending on its tone. Tap each card to hear the difference.

Standard Mandarin (Putonghua) has 4 main tones plus a neutral tone. Each tone is a specific pitch contour layered onto the syllable — the consonant and vowel sounds ("ma") stay the same, only the pitch pattern changes.

These numbers (55, 35, 214, 51) come from the Chao tone letters system: 5 is the highest pitch in your vocal range, 1 is the lowest. A tone like 214 means the pitch starts mid, drops to low, then rises to high.

Listen to each syllable and choose the tone you hear. Replay as many times as you like before answering.

This well-known teaching sentence uses the syllable “ma” four times, each with a different tone. Listen first, then record yourself reading it aloud.

Listen to each syllable, then tap Record and repeat it back. You’ll get a similarity score against the target sound.

This time, no audio model is given first. Read the English prompt, recall the correct tone from memory, and record yourself saying it. Tap “Show answer” if you get stuck.

Type the missing vowel with its correct tone mark (ā á ǎ à). Tip: hold down the base vowel key on most phone keyboards to see accented options, or copy from: ā á ǎ à

Tap Listen, then type the pinyin syllable with its correct tone mark. You can also type the tone as a number instead of a mark (e.g. type ma3 for mǎ) — both are accepted.

Answer all questions, then submit to see your score. You need 60% to pass and mark this lesson complete.