Chinese is written with characters. Pinyin shows how each character is pronounced. A Pinyin syllable usually has three parts: the initial, the final, and the tone. For example, "好", "h" is the initial, "ao"is the final, and the tone is the third tone.

A Pinyin syllable may not have an initial, such as "爱(ài, love)", but it must have a final.

Mandarin has 21 initials (initial consonants).

曲目 1_2 bpmfdtnlgkhjqxzhchishirzcsyw.mp3

Mandarin has 6 basic finals. These finals can be combined to form more complex finals. In total, Mandarin has 36 finals.

曲目 1_1 aoeiuv.mp3

Tone means changing your voice pitch (high or low) to change the meaning of a word. The same pinyin with different tones can have different meanings.

For example: mā / má / mǎ / mà / ma.

There are four basic tones in Chinese, but some characters do not have tones.

曲目 1_3 a four tones.mp3

• 1st tone (ā): high and level, like holding a steady high note.
• 2nd tone (á): rising, from mid to high, like asking a short question.
• 3rd tone (ǎ): low then rising, from low to mid, like dipping and coming back up.
• 4th tone (à): falling, from high to low, like a firm command.
• neutral tone(a): The neutral tone must be read lightly and quickly. When spelling the syllable, there is no tone mark.