Tone practice · 1
First tone practice
The first tone stays high and level. Hear a word with it, say it, and see your pitch drawn over a native speaker’s.
Streak 0
Two syllables · HSK 1–2
东西
thing
Press Hear it, then Hold to say.
How the first tone is said
Start near the top of your voice and hold it there, flat, like a note you sing: 八 bā, 吃 chī. It is higher than most people speak, so pitch it a little up before you start.
The usual mistake
Letting it sag at the end, or starting in the middle of your voice. Keep it as high at the end as at the start; in a pair, both first tones sit at the same height: 今天 jīntiān.
Words to start with
All 414 words here have the first tone. Pick one to say it now.
Questions
How do you say the first tone in Mandarin?
The first tone stays high and level. Start near the top of your voice and hold it there, flat, like a note you sing: 八 bā, 吃 chī. It is higher than most people speak, so pitch it a little up before you start.
Why does my first tone sound wrong?
It sags at the end, or starts too low. Hold it high and flat to the end, like a sung note.
More free tools
Chinese shadowing: whole sentences, your pitch over the narrator’s. Listening practice: type what you hear, every word checked. Pinyin trainer: name the tones you hear. Pinyin test: twenty words, one score. Tone pair chart: all 20 pairs, a word to hear for each. Pinyin chart: every syllable, all four tones. Chinese tongue twisters: the tones at speed.
Voices by ElevenLabs, the same two as the app’s word cards. The pitch check is ours and runs in your browser.