Tone Lesson 13 – Chinese Tone Rules: Character 不

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PINYIN TONE CHANGE: CHINESE CHARACTER BU 不 TONE SANDHI

In Chinese character bu 不 Tone Sandhi is a very common and important Pinyin Tone change rule. But it is pretty simple too. There are only two ways of pronunciation for character bu 不, the Fourth Tone, or the Second Tone. In this Mandarin Tone help video, we will learn and practice this Pinyin Tone Change with a lot of different Mandarin Tone combinations. You will be able to master the Chinese Character bu 不 Tone Sandhi in no time!

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Chinese Character bu 不 Tone Sandhi

When the character 不 is by itself, it is pronounced in the Fourth Tone, . This is its original Tone. But its pronunciation changes when it is in different Mandarin Tone combinations. There are only two ways of pronunciation for Chinese character bu 不 Tone Sandhi. (1) Character bu 不 is in the Fourth Tone "bù" before the First, the Second, or the Third Tone(which is can sometimes be a Half Third Tone). (2) Character bu 不 is in the Second Tone "bú" before the Fourth Tone.

A Mandarin Tone help video on Chinese character bu 不 Tone Sandhi. We'll learn and practice this Pinyin Tone change rule with Mandarin Tone combinations.
Bu 不 in the Fourth Tone before the First Tone

A Mandarin Tone help video on Chinese character bu 不 Tone Sandhi. We'll learn and practice this Pinyin Tone change rule with Mandarin Tone combinations.
Bu 不 in the Fourth Tone before the Second Tone

A Mandarin Tone help video on Chinese character bu 不 Tone Sandhi. We'll learn and practice this Pinyin Tone change rule with Mandarin Tone combinations.
Bu 不 in the Fourth Tone before the Third Tone

A Mandarin Tone help video on Chinese character bu 不 Tone Sandhi. We'll learn and practice this Pinyin Tone change rule with Mandarin Tone combinations.
Bu 不 in the Second Tone before the Fourth Tone

How to Write Chinese Character Bu 不 Tone Sandhi

As shown in the pictures above, when we write the Tone of character bu 不, we will write it the same Tone as we pronounce it. This is because the Pinyin Tone change here is not a change of the syllable, but a change of the character itself. We can see the character bu written in 不 (bù) and also 不 (bú). The same rule applies for the Character Yi 一 Tone Sandhi.

Pinyin Tone Change: Chinese Character Bu 不

Please watch the Mandarin Pinyin Tone help video on this page and practice the following Mandarin Tone combinations.

NO.1 2-syllable Words

 

Practice Chinese Character Bu 不 Tone Sandhi with the following words.

PINYIN 汉字
bù kāi 不开
bù lái 不来
bù hǎo 不好
bú shì 不是

NO.2 4-syllable Words

 

In the following Tone Groups, the character bu 不 are pronounced in two ways: and .

GROUP 1

PINYIN 汉字
bú zuò bù xiū 不做不休
bú huì bù tīng 不会不听
bú yào bù 'ān 不要不安 
bú màn bù zhī 不蔓不支 

 

GROUP 2

PINYIN 汉字
bú guò bù xíng 不过不行
bú dàn bù tíng 不但不停
bú yòng bù tí 不用不提
bú zài bù tóng 不再不同

 

GROUP 3

PINYIN 汉字
bú shì bù zǒu 不是不走
bú gù bù guǎn 不顾不管
bú biàn bù gǎi 不变不改
bú dà bù xiǎo 不大不小

 

GROUP 4

PINYIN 汉字
bú duì bú cuò 不对不错
bú shàng bú xià 不上不下
bú kuài bú màn 不快不慢
bú pà bú wèn 不怕不问

 

4 Comments
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Daniel Phillips Premium Student March 18, 2021 at 9:47 pm

What is bu though?

April Jane Valerio Premium Student April 11, 2021 at 11:11 am
Daniel Phillips Premium Student April 12, 2021 at 5:09 am

Thanks.

fredy1992 Premium Student January 25, 2021 at 1:31 pm

Thank you very much for this lesson

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