Tone sandhi is the gap between the tones you write and the tones you say: 你好 is normally written nǐ hǎo and spoken ní hǎo in connected speech. Paste a phrase and this Mandarin tone checker prints two lines — the dictionary pinyin for every syllable, and a common connected-speech reading — then names the rule behind each change. It reads text only and never listens to your microphone. This is a preview of common changes; word meaning, grouping and emphasis can affect pronunciation.
When two third tones are spoken together, the first rises like a second tone. 你好 → ní hǎo, 很好 → hén hǎo, 老李 → Láo Lǐ. Standard pinyin normally keeps the original tones, such as nǐ hǎo. Learning materials sometimes mark spoken changes to help with pronunciation; this checker keeps the dictionary and spoken lines separate.
In a run of three or more, grouping decides which syllables rise, so the checker flags grouping-dependent runs and, where available, shows another possible reading. 展览馆 is normally one spoken unit, with its first two syllables rising: zhǎnlǎnguǎn → zhánlánguǎn. 我很好 is commonly grouped as 我 + 很好, giving wǒ hén hǎo. Punctuation separates phrases in the checker. A neutral syllable usually breaks the third-tone pattern, as in 我的伞, wǒ de sǎn.
一 keeps its first tone when counting or reading digits, after 第 in an ordinal, and at the end of a phrase: 一, 十一, 第一. Dates and numbers can require context: 一月 is yī yuè when it means January. Attached to what follows, it shifts. Before a fourth tone it becomes yí — 一个 yí gè, 一下 yíxià. Before a first, second or third tone it becomes yì — 一天 yì tiān, 一年 yì nián, 一起 yìqǐ. Between repetitions of a verb it is often neutral: 看一看 kàn yi kàn.
不 is fourth tone by default and stays that way before tones one, two and three: 不好 bù hǎo, 不忙 bù máng. Before another fourth tone it rises to bú — 不是 bú shì, 不去 bú qù, 不客气 bú kèqi. In unstressed A-不-A questions, potential complements and some fixed phrases, 不 can be neutral: 走不走 zǒu bu zǒu, 对不起 duì bu qǐ, 看不见 kàn bu jiàn. Emphasis can restore a full tone.
One pattern the two lines cannot show: before a first, second or fourth tone, and often before a neutral tone, a third tone usually stays low instead of completing its full dip-and-rise — a "half third". 好吃 reads hǎochī on both lines, but 好 is usually low in connected speech. Emphasis and pauses can change the contour.
Use the spoken line as a guide and listen to one possible reading, then take the phrase into live Chinese speaking practice. To drill the transitions on their own, use the Mandarin Tone Pair Trainer; to hear a single syllable in all four tones, the pinyin chart; to check a whole sentence for grammar, the Chinese Sentence Lab. Every free Chinese learning tool runs in the browser with no signup.
Paste a phrase to compare dictionary pinyin with the tones used in natural connected speech. The checker highlights third-tone changes and the common changes for 一 (yī) and 不 (bù), then explains why each one occurs.
Tone sandhi (变调 biàndiào) is when a syllable's tone changes because of the tone next to it. Mandarin has three common cases: a third tone before another third tone, the number 一 (yī), and the negator 不 (bù). Written pinyin normally keeps the original tone, so you apply the change when you speak.
Yes. 你 nǐ and 好 hǎo are both third tone, so the first one is said as a rising second tone: ní hǎo. You still write it nǐ hǎo. The same happens in 很好 (hén hǎo), 可以 (ké yǐ), and 水果 (shuí guǒ).
一 becomes yí before a fourth tone (一个 yí gè, 一样 yí yàng) and yì before a first, second, or third tone (一天 yì tiān, 一年 yì nián, 一起 yì qǐ). It stays yī when counting or reading digits, after 第 in an ordinal, and at the end of a phrase. Dates and numbers can require context.
Only before a fourth tone: 不是 bú shì, 不要 bú yào, 不对 bú duì, 不会 bú huì. Before other full tones it usually stays bù — 不吃 bù chī, 不忙 bù máng, 不好 bù hǎo. In unstressed A-不-A questions and potential complements it can be light and neutral: 好不好 hǎo bu hǎo, 看不懂 kàn bu dǒng. Emphasis can restore a full tone.