Pronunciation · 四声
What are the four tones in Mandarin?
Four tones change what a syllable means. The light tone is unmarked. A change caused by the next syllable is not written. The four labels are not a listener.
Written September 29, 2026. This page does not host a recording of ours.
The four tones in Mandarin are marks that change what a syllable means. A search for contours, English lookalikes, and a four-word drill is asking for a miniature course.
This page uses the romanization stick on the ISO 7098 text hosted by China’s Ministry of Education: four tones, or none. The light tone is unmarked. A change caused by the next syllable is not written. Knowing the four labels is not a person hearing them.
Four tones change the syllable
Four tones in Mandarin, on this page, are four ways a syllable can be marked so the meaning is not the same.
The ISO 7098 romanization page hosted by the Ministry of Education says: “每个汉字代表一个音节，每个音节有四个声调，也可以没有声调。” Each Chinese character stands for a syllable. Each syllable has four tones, or it can have none. The same page says the 1958 Hanyu Pinyin scheme is what is used to spell Chinese.
Beginner lists often freeze that fact into four words that share a syllable. One set of four shows that a tone mark can split meaning. The language is larger than that set.
The unmarked tone is not a fifth contest
The same ISO 7098 page says: “轻声，有时也叫第五声，不标调。” The light tone, sometimes called a fifth tone, is unmarked.
That sentence is a writing rule for this romanization. It is not a ranking that puts a fifth contestant beside the four. The sentence bank already writes the second syllable of 谢谢 without a mark. This page does not add a fifth prize.
Pinyin does not write the change
Tone change caused by the following syllable is real work. It is not printed on that romanization page as a contour chart.
ISO 7098 says: “由于后一音节引起的变调，不予表示。” A sandhi change caused by the next syllable is not represented. Teaching pages often print a dipping third-tone contour with numbered pitch steps. Those numbers are not on the ISO 7098 page we read. This page will not import them as the scheme.
The sentence bank already notes one case: 不 in 我不喝咖啡 stays fourth because 喝 is first. That line stays on the workbench. A full sandhi table stays off this page.
Labels are not a listener
Naming the four tones in Mandarin is not a listener hearing the right pitch.
The matching page is what a Chinese tone checker is actually measuring. This page does not score you. It does not host a recording. If the job is a line you can say twice, open the sentence bank.
What waits until another page
A pinyin primer and a recorded contrast run by this site are still unwritten. Hearing which of two sounds you heard is how to hear a Mandarin tone pair. This page will not fill the blanks that remain.
| The tone search | What this page measures |
|---|---|
| Four contours to memorize | Four marks that change a syllable’s meaning |
| A fifth tone to rank with the four | Unmarked light tone in this romanization |
| A numbered dipping contour as the official third | Not on the ISO 7098 page we read |
| A pinyin alphabet course | Not this page |
| Best tone app | This page does not rank apps |
What this page will not tell you
It will not hand you a daily timetable. It will not publish a syllable count. It will not rank a tone app. Open one line in the sentence bank. If you are at zero, the starting path is how to start learning Chinese.
Questions that still sit on the table
What are the four tones in Mandarin?
Four marks that change a syllable’s meaning.
Is there a fifth Mandarin tone?
The ISO 7098 page this site cites says the light tone, sometimes called a fifth tone, is unmarked. That is a writing rule for this romanization, not a fifth contestant ranked with the four.
Is the third tone always a dip?
Teaching pages often print a dipping contour with numbered pitch steps. The ISO 7098 page this site cites does not print those numbers. The same page says a tone change caused by the following syllable is not represented. This page will not turn a teaching dip into that standard. If the job is a line you can say twice, open the sentence bank.
Do I need to learn all four tones before I speak?
You need to know that the marks change meaning. Week one on this site is still one spoken line. Open how to start learning Chinese if you are at zero.
What is the best app for Mandarin tones?
This page does not rank apps.
Sources
- Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, hosting ISO 7098-1991, “文献工作―中文罗马字母拼写法” (read 29 September 2026).
Open one line and say it twice. The four labels can wait until a person is listening.
Version 1. Recheck when the Ministry page changes §3.1, §4.2, or §4.3, or every six months.