---
title: "Mandarin Neutral Tone Practice: Say It, See Your Pitch | Mandarin The WildYour pitch over the speaker’s"
description: "Free Mandarin neutral tone practice with your voice: hear a real word, say it, and see your pitch over a native speaker’s. 91 HSK 1–4 words, and how the neutral tone is said (it is short and light)."
canonical: "https://mandarinthewild.com/tone-practice/neutral-tone"
author: "Mandarin The Wild"
---

[Tone practice](https://mandarinthewild.com/tone-practice) · Neutral

# Neutral tone practice

The neutral tone is short and light. Hear a word with it, say it, and see your pitch drawn over a native speaker’s.

Streak 0

Two syllables · HSK 1–2

早上

zǎo shang

morning

PanggeYou

Voice

Words

Your voice stays on this device. Nothing is recorded or sent.

## How the neutral tone is said

Say it quicker and softer than the syllable before, with no shape of its own. Its height comes from the tone before it: low after a fourth tone (爸爸 bàba), high after a third (饺子 jiǎozi), in the middle after a second (朋友 péngyou) and a little lower after a first (妈妈 māma).

## The usual mistake

Giving it a full tone of its own, or saying it as long as the syllable before. Let it go light and quick, at whatever height the tone before leaves it.

## Words to start with

All 91 words here have the neutral tone. Pick one to say it now.

- [爸爸 bà ba dad](https://mandarinthewild.com/tone-practice/neutral-tone?word=%E7%88%B8%E7%88%B8)
- [包子 bāo zi steamed bun](https://mandarinthewild.com/tone-practice/neutral-tone?word=%E5%8C%85%E5%AD%90)
- [杯子 bēi zi cup](https://mandarinthewild.com/tone-practice/neutral-tone?word=%E6%9D%AF%E5%AD%90)
- [弟弟 dì di younger brother](https://mandarinthewild.com/tone-practice/neutral-tone?word=%E5%BC%9F%E5%BC%9F)
- [儿子 ér zi son](https://mandarinthewild.com/tone-practice/neutral-tone?word=%E5%84%BF%E5%AD%90)
- [哥哥 gē ge older brother](https://mandarinthewild.com/tone-practice/neutral-tone?word=%E5%93%A5%E5%93%A5)
- [孩子 hái zi child](https://mandarinthewild.com/tone-practice/neutral-tone?word=%E5%AD%A9%E5%AD%90)
- [饺子 jiǎo zi dumpling](https://mandarinthewild.com/tone-practice/neutral-tone?word=%E9%A5%BA%E5%AD%90)
- [妈妈 mā ma mom](https://mandarinthewild.com/tone-practice/neutral-tone?word=%E5%A6%88%E5%A6%88)
- [妹妹 mèi mei younger sister](https://mandarinthewild.com/tone-practice/neutral-tone?word=%E5%A6%B9%E5%A6%B9)
- [名字 míng zi name](https://mandarinthewild.com/tone-practice/neutral-tone?word=%E5%90%8D%E5%AD%97)
- [你们 nǐ men you](https://mandarinthewild.com/tone-practice/neutral-tone?word=%E4%BD%A0%E4%BB%AC)

## Questions

### How do you say the neutral tone in Mandarin?

The neutral tone is short and light. Say it quicker and softer than the syllable before, with no shape of its own. Its height comes from the tone before it: low after a fourth tone (爸爸 bàba), high after a third (饺子 jiǎozi), in the middle after a second (朋友 péngyou) and a little lower after a first (妈妈 māma).

### Why does my neutral tone sound wrong?

It gets a full tone and as much time as the syllable before. Make it quick and light, at the height the tone before leaves it.

## More free tools

[Chinese shadowing](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-shadowing): whole sentences, your pitch over the narrator’s. [Listening practice](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-listening-practice): type what you hear, every word checked. [Pinyin trainer](https://mandarinthewild.com/pinyin-trainer): name the tones you hear. [Pinyin test](https://mandarinthewild.com/pinyin-test): twenty words, one score. [Tone pair chart](https://mandarinthewild.com/tone-pairs): all 20 pairs, a word to hear for each. [Pinyin chart](https://mandarinthewild.com/pinyin-chart): every syllable, all four tones. [Chinese tongue twisters](https://mandarinthewild.com/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.