CHINESE THIRD TONE: PRONUNCIATION 1 - ORIGINAL FULL THIRD TONE
The Chinese Third Tone is called 三声(sān shēng) in Chinese, literally meaning "the third sound". The Mandarin Pinyin Third Tone might need some extra practice than the other Tones, because it sometimes gets modified or changed in real life speaking. There are 3 ways in total to pronounce it:
- Original Full Third Tone Lesson 5
- Third Tone becomes Second Tone Lesson 6 Lesson 7
- Half Third Tone Lesson 8 Lesson 9
In today's lesson we will be focusing on No.1 - the Original Full Third Tone.
How to Pronounce Chinese Third Tone - Original Full Third Tone
As shown in the picture below, you start semi-high pitch, dips down, and then go up again. When speaking, if you finish the whole process of going down and then up again, you are pronouncing an Original Full Third Tone.
Mandarin Pinyin Third Tone Pronunciation Drills
FIRST TONE + THIRD TONE
| TONE PAIRS | ||
|---|---|---|
| PINYIN | CHINESE | ENGLISH |
| jī chǎng | 机场 | airport |
| kāi shǐ | 开始 | to start; to begin |
| dōng běi | 东北 | northeast |
| gōng lǐ | 公里 | kilometer |
| xīn kǔ | 辛苦 | hardworking |
| SENTENCE | ||
| jī chǎng zài dōng běi sān gōng lǐ | ||
| 机场在东北三公里。 | ||
| The airport is 3 kilometers to the northeast. | ||
SECOND TONE + THIRD TONE
| TONE PAIRS | ||
|---|---|---|
| PINYIN | CHINESE | ENGLISH |
| rú guǒ | 如果 | if |
| hái yǒu | 还有 | still have |
| cí diǎn | 词典 | dictionary |
| pí jiǔ | 啤酒 | beer |
| chéng yǔ | 成语 | Chinese idiom |
| SENTENCE | ||
| rú guǒ hái yǒu chéng yǔ cí diǎn | ||
| 如果还有成语词典。 | ||
| If (I) still have a Chinese idiom dictionary. | ||
FOURTH TONE + THIRD TONE
| TONE PAIRS | ||
|---|---|---|
| PINYIN | CHINESE | ENGLISH |
| bào zhǐ | 报纸 | newspaper |
| dì tiě | 地铁 | subway |
| lì shǐ | 历史 | history |
| shàng wǎng | 上网 | to go on the Internet |
| hàn yǔ | 汉语 | the Chinese language |
| SENTENCE | ||
| wǒ shàng wǎng kàn hàn yǔ bào zhǐ | ||
| 我上网看汉语报纸。 | ||
| I read Chinese newspaper on the internet. | ||
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