2. Tone 1 to Tone 6

We have learned all the six tones. Let’s revise them together.

Tone NumberTone 1Tone 2Tone 3Tone 4Tone 5Tone 6
Tone NameHigh levelMid risingMid levelLow fallingLow risingLow level
Diagram

The Romanization system Jyutping uses numbers to represent the tone of a syllable. It could be difficult to remember which tone is represented by which number. You can try to associate each tone with the shape of its number.

Also, to remember Tone 4 is the falling tone, remember the number four sounds like fall. To remember Tone 5 is a rising tone, remember the food fried rice. Fried sounds like the number five, and rice sounds like rise.

Step 1  Listen to the syllable si in Tone 1 to Tone 6 together. Pay attention to the pitch.

si1
si1 si2
si1 si2 si3
si1 si2 si3 si4
si1 si2 si3 si4 si5
si1 si2 si3 si4 si5 si6

Step 2  Practice saying the syllable si in Tone 1 to Tone 6. Listen and repeat.

si1
si1 si2
si1 si2 si3
si1 si2 si3 si4
si1 si2 si3 si4 si5
si1 si2 si3 si4 si5 si6

💡 Tips

If you find it difficult to remember the tones, you can remember their similar sounds in English.

Tone NumberTone 1Tone 2Tone 3Tone 4Tone 5Tone 6
Tone NameHigh levelMid risingMid levelLow fallingLow risingLow level
Similar Sounds in Englishsi1
season
si2
sea?
si3si4
juicy
si5si6
sociology

Practice  Practice saying Tone 1 to Tone 6 with other syllables. Listen and repeat.

  1. fu1 fu2 fu3 fu4 fu5 fu6
  2. fan1 fan2 fan3 fan4 fan5 fan6
  3. hon1 hon2 hon3 hon4 hon5 hon6
  4. soeng1 soeng2 soeng3 soeng4 soeng5 soeng6