Chinese Pronunciation · Hear Any Character or Word

Type Chinese characters, or an English word we translate first, and hear native Mandarin pronunciation. Single characters play slowly so you can catch the tone; words keep their natural flow.

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The 4 Mandarin tones

Every Mandarin syllable carries one of four tones (plus a light neutral tone). The same syllable ma becomes four different words. Tap each to hear the difference.

  1. 妈

    1st tone · mā 妈 "mom"

    High and flat, like singing a note and holding it.

  2. 麻

    2nd tone · má 麻 "hemp"

    Rising, like the pitch of asking "what?" in English.

  3. 马

    3rd tone · mǎ 马 "horse"

    Dips down then rises. In fast speech it often stays low.

  4. 骂

    4th tone · mà 骂 "to scold"

    Sharp and falling, like a firm "no!" in English.

There's also a light neutral tone: no mark, short and unstressed, as in the second syllable of māma or the question particle 吗 (ma).

How it works

Enter Chinese characters to hear them read by a native Mandarin voice, or enter an English word and we translate it first. Every character in the result gets its own slower single-character audio, plus one natural-pace clip for the whole word.

Want the writing side too? See each character's animated stroke order, generate a printable writing worksheet, or look up the characters in the pinyin dictionary.

Chinese pronunciation FAQ

Is this Mandarin pronunciation?
Yes, a native Mandarin (普通话) neural voice reading simplified characters. Single characters play extra slowly so you can hear the tone; words and phrases play closer to natural pace.
Why does 你好 sound like "ní hǎo" when the pinyin says nǐ hǎo?
That's tone sandhi: two third tones in a row make the first one rise to a second tone, so nǐ hǎo is actually pronounced ní hǎo. The audio reflects how natives really say it; pinyin spelling keeps the dictionary tones.
Can I type an English word?
Yes. English input is translated to Chinese first, then spoken. Try friend or thank you. You can also paste a whole Chinese phrase.
How do I hear each character separately?
Every character in your result gets its own play button; the single-character audio is slower on purpose, so each tone is easy to hear and repeat.
How do I check which tone a character has?
Look at the tone mark over the pinyin: ā is flat and high, á rises, ǎ dips and rises, à falls sharply. The pinyin guide explains all four tones with examples.
Is this pronunciation tool free?
Yes. Free, no sign-up, and it covers the whole dictionary, not a fixed list. To see how a character is written, try the stroke order tool.