Hello, goodbye, and the four tones
You finished this day
Mandarin has no alphabet you can sound out, and it uses pitch to tell words apart. That sounds like two problems. Today you will see it is mostly one, and that it is learnable from the first word.
Hello
One greeting does almost all the work, and a second is for people you want to show respect to.
你好 is written nǐ hǎo but said ní hǎo. When two third tones meet, the first one rises, because dipping twice in a row is awkward even for native speakers. Pinyin keeps the dictionary tones on the page and leaves the change to you, so you will see this gap between spelling and speech constantly. It is the most common tone rule in the language, and it starts on the first word.
Goodbye
Almost every goodbye ends in the same character, 见, which means see.
Put a time in front of 见 and you have a new goodbye. 明天见 is tomorrow see, and 周末见, zhōumò jiàn, is weekend see. Chinese builds a great deal of its everyday language by joining small pieces that each mean something, which is why a word you have never met can often be worked out from parts you already know.
The four tones
The same syllable, ma, said four ways, gives four unrelated words.
English uses pitch for attitude: the same yes can sound bored, surprised or annoyed. Mandarin uses pitch for meaning, so the tone is part of the word in the way a vowel is part of an English word. You do not need perfect tones today. You do need to learn each tone with its word, from now on, rather than planning to add the tones later.
Standard Mandarin, called 普通话, pǔtōnghuà, in mainland China, written in simplified characters, the form used in mainland China and Singapore. Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau use traditional characters, and every character page on this site shows the traditional form where it differs. Cantonese is a separate language with its own sounds and is not taught here.
8 questions. Get 5 right to finish the day.
You are greeting your friend's grandmother. Which is best?
- 再见 zàijiàn
- 晚安 wǎn'ān
- 您好 nín hǎo
- 你们好 nǐmen hǎo
Show the answer
您好 nín hǎo 您 is the respectful you, right for anyone older or more senior.
Type hello in pinyin.
Show the answer
nǐ hǎo Two third tones, so the first one rises when you say it: ní hǎo.
你好 is written nǐ hǎo. How is it actually said?
- nì hào
- ní hǎo
- nǐ hǎo
- nī hāo
Show the answer
ní hǎo When two third tones meet, the first rises. Pinyin keeps the dictionary tone on the page.
Which tone falls sharply from high to low?
- second
- third
- fourth
- first
Show the answer
fourth The fourth tone drops, like a firm no.
What does 见 mean at the end of a goodbye?
- go
- see
- again
- later
Show the answer
see 再见 is again see, 明天见 is tomorrow see.
Type goodbye in pinyin.
Show the answer
zàijiàn Two fourth tones, both falling.
mǎ, with the low dipping tone, means
- horse
- to scold
- hemp
- mother
Show the answer
horse mā mother, má hemp, mǎ horse, mà to scold.
When do you say 晚安?
- when someone is going to bed
- on arriving in the evening
- at the start of dinner
- to greet a group
Show the answer
when someone is going to bed 晚安 is good night as in sleep well. It is never a greeting.
Question 1 of 8
Character 1 of 18
Press Watch to see the stroke order.
Stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi via Hanzi Writer, Arphic Public License.