Tone change rules

Also known as: tone sandhi and 变调规则 (biàndiào guīzé).

There are certain circumstances under which a Chinese word or character's normal tone will regularly change to a specific different tone. These tone changes (also called tone sandhi) must be learned in order to pronounce Chinese correctly.

There are three main tone change rules that every learner needs to know. These rules are not normally reflected in the tone marks of pinyin; you just have to know them.

Sources and further reading

• Wikipedia: Tone sandhi: Mandarin Chinese