# Pinyin with tone changes URL: https://verychinesetimeinmylife.com/tools/pinyin-tone-changes/ Updated: 2026-11-05 Type a Chinese sentence and see how it is really said. You get the spoken pinyin above each character and the textbook pinyin below it. ## What are tone changes? A tone change is when a syllable is said with a different tone from the one in the dictionary. It happens because of the syllable that comes next. For example, 不 (bù, not) becomes bú in 不要 (bú yào, don’t want). In 你好 (ní hǎo, hello), 你 becomes ní. Native speakers make these changes all the time, without thinking. The linguistic name for them is tone sandhi. Pinyin marks the four tones like this: mā (first), má (second), mǎ (third), mà (fourth). A syllable with no mark is short and soft. ## Why is textbook pinyin different from what you hear? Textbooks and dictionaries write the tone each character has on its own. They do not write the changes. So in a textbook, 不 is always bù and 一 is always yī. You learn the changes as rules and make them yourself when you read aloud. Some books write the changes for 不 and 一, but not the others. This tool shows both. The top line is what people say. The bottom line is what a textbook writes. ## Common changes - 不 becomes bú before a fourth tone. Example: **不要辣** (No spicy). Said: bú yào là. Textbook: bù yào là. - 不 becomes a short, soft bu in the middle of a phrase. Example: **听不懂** (Don't understand). Said: tīng bu dǒng. Textbook: tīng bù dǒng. - 一 becomes yí before a fourth tone. Example: **等一下** (Wait a moment…). Said: děng yí xià. Textbook: děng yī xià. - 一 becomes yì before a first, second or third tone. Example: **一杯红茶** (A cup of black tea). Said: yì bēi hóng chá. Textbook: yī bēi hóng chá. - When two third tones come together in a word, the first one becomes a second tone. Example: **你好** (Hello!). Said: ní hǎo. Textbook: nǐ hǎo. - In many words the last syllable is short and soft, with no tone mark. Example: **谢谢** (Thank you). Said: xiè xie. Textbook: xiè xiè. ## How the tool writes pinyin - Changes for 不 and 一 are always written, even across two words, as in 不是 (bú shì, is not). - Two third tones change only inside one word. In 我也是 (wǒ yě shì, me too), 我 and 也 are separate words, so both keep their third tone. In fast speech, 我 often changes too. - Short, soft syllables are written the way they sound in everyday standard Mandarin. Some speakers in the south of China give a few of them a full tone. - 儿 at the end of a word adds an r to the sound before it, as in 哪儿 (nǎr, where). The tool writes the r over the 儿. ## Where the tool can be wrong ### Characters with two readings The tool can pick the wrong reading for a character that has two. 行 is xíng (OK) or háng (a row). 长 is cháng (long) or zhǎng (to grow). The tool chooses from the words around it. ### Where a word ends The tool can split a sentence into words differently from you. Two third tones change only inside one word, so a different split gives a different result. Names of people and places are the usual problem. ### Short, soft syllables The tool can miss a short, soft syllable in a rare word. It knows a list of common words and a few patterns, such as 子 at the end of a noun. ### Traditional characters The tool is made for simplified characters. It reads common traditional ones such as 們 and 這, but can miss things in rarer ones. ### Numbers Numbers written as digits, like 110, get no pinyin. In numbers written in characters, 一 is yī in 十一 (eleven) and 第一 (first), and yāo in phone and room numbers. The tool gets about 99.5% of syllables right. We checked it on 1,809 lines from the game with hand-checked pinyin (99.5%) and on 40 new everyday sentences (99.4%). The two mistakes in the new sentences were 有空 (free), where 空 should be kòng, and 清楚 (clear), where 楚 should be short and soft. ## Questions ### What is tone sandhi in Chinese? Tone sandhi means a syllable changes its tone because of the syllable after it. In Mandarin the common cases are: 不 becomes bú before a fourth tone; 一 becomes yí before a fourth tone and yì before the other tones; and when two third tones come together, the first becomes a second tone, so 你好 is said ní hǎo. ### How do you pronounce 不要? 不要 (don’t want) is pronounced bú yào. 不 is bù on its own, but 要 is a fourth tone, and before a fourth tone 不 becomes bú. ### Why is 你好 said ní hǎo? 你好 is said ní hǎo because 你 and 好 are both third tones. When two third tones come together in a word, the first becomes a second tone. Dictionaries still write nǐ hǎo, because they show each character’s own tone. ### How many ways can 一 be pronounced? 一 (one) has four common pronunciations: yī, yí, yì and yāo. It is yī when you count. It becomes yí before a fourth tone: 一个 is yí ge. It becomes yì before the other tones: 一杯 is yì bēi. In phone and room numbers it is yāo. ### Does normal pinyin show tone changes? No. Most dictionaries and textbooks write each character’s own tone, not the tone that is said. Some textbooks write the changes for 不 and 一 only. This tool shows both: the spoken pinyin above each character and the textbook pinyin below. ### Is the tool free, and is my text sent anywhere? Yes, the tool is free and needs no account. It runs in your browser, so your text is not sent to a server. The first time you use it, your browser downloads the pinyin dictionary once. ### How accurate is the tool? The tool gets about 99.5% of syllables right. On 1,809 lines from the game with hand-checked pinyin it matched 99.5%, and on 40 new everyday sentences it matched 99.4%. Most mistakes come from characters with two readings. ## Related pages - [How you learn in the game](https://verychinesetimeinmylife.com/how-you-learn/): How a conversation in the game works, why it starts with speaking, why the pinyin matches what people say, and how review is spread over the week. - [How to say no thank you in Chinese](https://verychinesetimeinmylife.com/say/no-thank-you-in-chinese/): The polite way to turn down drivers, sellers and offers, and why it sounds softer than a plain “don’t want”. - [How to say hello in Chinese](https://verychinesetimeinmylife.com/say/hello-in-chinese/): The everyday greeting, why its first syllable rises, and the greetings people use in the morning, in the evening and with older people. - [How to say I don’t understand in Chinese](https://verychinesetimeinmylife.com/say/i-dont-understand-in-chinese/): How to say “I don’t understand, please slow down”, and what people do when you say it.