Mandarin Tone Sandhi: Written Tones and Spoken Changes

Tone sandhi changes a syllable’s pronunciation in a connected phrase.

A common third-tone pattern#

Before another third-tone syllable, the first third tone is normally pronounced with a rising tone. Dictionary-style pinyin may still show the underlying third tone.

Suggested practice#

Compare nǐ hǎo written as dictionary syllables with the connected pronunciation ní hǎo. These are not necessarily contradictory spellings. Practise the pair using the linked audio before applying a rule to longer phrases.

Reference#

Pronunciation reference. The practice instructions here are newly written. Recordings, charts and illustrations from the reference are not reproduced.