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CANTONESE FOUNDATIONS

Cantonese tones for beginners

Cantonese tones are part of the sound of a syllable. Jyutping marks six tones with the digits 1 through 6. Here are the six pitch patterns and a syllable from a recorded phrase for each one.

The six tone patterns

The names below describe relative pitch in one person's voice; a high tone does not require an unusually loud voice. The Linguistic Society of Hong Kong gives the six Jyutping numbers, and the Hong Kong Education Bureau illustrates their pitch shapes.

Each linked recording plays the whole phrase, not an isolated syllable. Focus on the named syllable while hearing the phrase in context; the examples are not six pronunciations of the same word.

  1. Tone 1: high and level. 多謝 contains do1; hear the complete phrase in the linked recording below.
  2. Tone 2: rises high. 你好 contains hou2; hear the complete phrase in the linked recording below.
  3. Tone 3: middle and level. 拜拜 contains baai3; hear the complete phrase in the linked recording below.
  4. Tone 4: starts low and falls. 早晨 contains san4; hear the complete phrase in the linked recording below.
  5. Tone 5: rises from low toward the middle. 你好 contains nei5; hear the complete phrase in the linked recording below.
  6. Tone 6: low and level. 多謝 contains ze6; hear the complete phrase in the linked recording below.
thank youdo1 ze6多謝hellonei5 hou2你好byebaai1 baai3拜拜good morningzou2 san4早晨

Compare tones inside a short phrase

In 你好 (nei5 hou2), both syllables rise, but tone 5 rises from low toward the middle while tone 2 reaches higher. Play the recording and compare the two parts before trying to copy them.

拜拜 is baai1 baai3: the letters repeat, but tone 1 stays high and tone 3 stays nearer the middle. Listen once for the phrase, then once for the difference between its two beats.

hellonei5 hou2你好byebaai1 baai3拜拜

Practise with meaning attached

Choose one phrase you may use this week. Play it, say it, and replay it while following the tone digits. Then try a second short phrase with a different pattern, such as 多謝 (do1 ze6) after 你好 (nei5 hou2).

You do not need to name every tone before you can speak. If a contrast is hard to hear, return to the whole phrase and its meaning, then listen again on another day rather than guessing from English spelling.

thank youdo1 ze6多謝hellonei5 hou2你好

Keep exploring

FOUNDATIONSHow to read Jyutping for Cantonese pronunciationA beginner's guide to Cantonese Jyutping: read letters and tone numbers beside Traditional Chinese, then use recorded examples to hear each phrase.START HEREHow to learn Cantonese: a beginner's starting pointA practical Cantonese learning path for English speakers: start with useful phrases, hear their pronunciation, read Jyutping, and build short conversations.EVERYDAY CANTONESECantonese greetings and polite phrases for beginnersLearn how to say hello, good morning, goodbye, thank you, excuse me, and sorry in Cantonese, with Jyutping and recorded pronunciation.

Further reading