The third tone in Mandarin Chinese is so unique and interesting, that I felt it deserved its own time in the spotlight. In order for this article to make sense, I’m assuming that you’ve learnt what the Mandarin tones are.
The ‘textbook’ description of the third tone is that it starts with a neutral tone then dips to a lower pitch and then raises to end at higher pitch. Here’s the reality though, if we had to say every single third tone this way, our voices would start to feel strained. Luckily, in most cases, we don’t actually pronounce the third tone this way. When it is used in context (a part of a word or sentence), the tone is still low, croaky, and guttural, but it is also shorter and more subtle. To demonstrate this, let’s look at a few examples and listen for the difference between the overexaggerated third tone and the correct pronunciation.
| Do you know? | 你知道吗？ | Nǐ zhī dào ma ? |
| I know. | 我知道。 | Wǒ zhī dào. |
| He is very tired. | 他很累。 | Tā hěn lèi. |
| Does it taste good? | 好吃吗？ | Hǎo chī ma? |
It’s okay if the difference isn’t very apparent right now. Over time, you will start to notice the correct pronunciation for the third tone used in context.
What to do with two?
Here’s another challenge the third tone has presented and another solution that Chinese has evolved to solve. When there are two third tones in a row, it would be a mouthful to say them both using the third tone, so, instead we change the first one to the second tone. Doing so means that in spoken Mandarin, there are never two third tones in a row. This is an example of a tone change (also known as tone sandhi). This is when there is a change of tone that occurs when certain words are used in combination with other words. You’ll learn about a couple other tone changes later on.
This is what the official ‘rule’ is: When a 3rd tone is followed by another 3rd tone, the first 3rd tone changes to a 2nd tone. To demonstrate this, let us take a closer look at a word you may be quite familiar with – 你好 (hello).
The pinyin for 你好 is “nǐ hǎo”, but the correct pronunciation for it is “ní hǎo”.
The same is true for the following words/phrases as well. Let’s listen for the tone change.
| good | 很好 | “hěn hǎo” becomes “hén hǎo” |
| so | 所以 | “suǒyǐ” becomes “suóyǐ” |
| can | 可以 | “kěyǐ” becomes “kéyǐ” |
| I understand | 我懂 | “wǒ dǒng” becomes “wó dǒng” |
Multiple “3rd” Tones in a Row
The way to handle three “3rd” tones in a row that is frequently used by Mandarin speakers is to only change the second of the three characters to 2nd tone. Let’s look at the tone change in the following examples and listen to the correct pronunciation.
| I’m good. | 我很好。 | “Wǒ hěn hǎo” becomes “Wǒ hén hǎo” |
| I miss you. | 我想你。 | “Wǒ xiǎng nǐ” becomes “Wǒ xiáng nǐ” |
| You’re beautiful. | 你很美。 | “Nǐ hěn měi” becomes “Nǐ hén měi” |
For four “3rd” tones or more in a row, aim to break them down into words and change the first character of the word to the 2nd tone. All of the tones in the following sentences are originally the third tone. Let’s listen to how they sound after we implement this tone change rule.
| I can understand. | 我可以理解。 | “Wǒ kěyǐ lǐjiě” becomes “Wǒ kéyǐ líjiě” |
| I want to understand you. | 我想理解你。 | “Wǒ xiǎng lǐjiě nǐ” Becomes “Wó xiǎng líjiě ní” |
| What type of fruit do you want to buy? | 你想买哪种水果？ | “Nǐ xiǎng mǎi nǎ zhǒng shuǐ guǒ?” becomes “Nǐ xiáng mǎi ná zhǒng shuíguǒ?” |
Conclusion
There are more nuances to ways the third tone may be changed when there are multiple in a row, but following this guide is sufficient. When it comes to tone changes, knowing the rules is useful, but you will master them organically by hearing them in use. The main thing to remember is that for ease of pronunciation, spoken Mandarin doesn’t allow two consecutive third tones.
If you’re interested in learning two other (easier) tone changes, check out “The Tone Change Challenge“.