The Mandarin Neutral Tone and Erhua (the Beijing "R")

Not every Mandarin syllable carries one of the four tones. Many common words end in a short, light syllable with no tone of its own: the ma of māma, the second xie of xièxie, and particles like le, de and ma. Getting these right makes Mandarin sound natural and rhythmic; giving them full tones makes it sound stilted.

What the neutral tone is

A neutral-tone syllable (轻声 qīngshēng, "light tone") is shorter and weaker than a toned syllable, and its vowel is often reduced. Pinyin writes it with no tone mark: ma, de, le. Its pitch is not fixed but depends on the preceding tone:

Notice the pattern after a third tone: the third tone is low, and the neutral syllable jumps up, so jiějie sounds low-then-higher. This is the "rise" of the third tone completing on the next syllable.

Which syllables are neutral

• Grammatical particles: 了 le, 的 de, 吗 ma, 呢 ne, 吧 ba, 着 zhe, 过 guo (as aspect marker).
• Suffixes: 子 in 桌子 zhuōzi, 儿子 érzi; 们 in 我们 wǒmen; 头 in 石头 shítou.
• Repeated kinship words: 妈妈, 爸爸, 哥哥 gēge, 弟弟 dìdi.
• Directional complements and objects in some verbs: 进来 jìnlai, 出去 chūqu.
• The second syllable of many common two-syllable words: 东西 dōngxi, 朋友 péngyou, 意思 yìsi, 衣服 yīfu, 明白 míngbai.

Neutral tone can change meaning

In some pairs, the neutral tone is the only difference:

(The audio buttons read the characters, so your browser will choose one pronunciation; listen to how a native speaker says each in context.)

Erhua: the -r suffix

Erhua (儿化 érhuà) adds an r-colouring to the end of a syllable, written with 儿 in characters and -r in pinyin. It is typical of Beijing and northern Mandarin. The r is not a separate syllable; it merges with the final and can change it:

Some erhua words differ in meaning from the plain form: 哪 nǎ "which" vs 哪儿 nǎr "where"; 这 zhè "this" vs 这儿 zhèr "here". Southern speakers say 哪里 nǎlǐ and 这里 zhèlǐ instead.

Frequently asked questions

Is the neutral tone a fifth tone?

It is sometimes called that, but it behaves differently. It has no fixed pitch of its own: it is short and light, and its pitch depends on the tone before it. Pinyin marks it by writing no tone mark.

Do I need to use erhua?

Not for standard Mandarin. Erhua is characteristic of Beijing and northern speech. Standard Mandarin uses it in a limited set of common words, such as 一点儿 and 哪儿, and it is optional in many others. Speakers from the south and from Taiwan use it very little.

How do I know which syllables are neutral?

Grammatical particles (了, 的, 吗, 呢, 吧), noun suffixes (子, 头 in many words), repeated family terms (妈妈, 爸爸) and the second syllable of many common words (东西, 朋友, 谢谢) are neutral. Dictionaries such as the Xiandai Hanyu Cidian mark them.

Sources and further reading

• Chao, Y. R. (1968). A Grammar of Spoken Chinese, sections on neutral tone and the -r suffix. University of California Press.
• Lin, Y.-H. (2007). The Sounds of Chinese, chapters 6 and 9. Cambridge University Press.
• Duanmu, S. (2007). The Phonology of Standard Chinese (2nd ed.), chapter 10 on the r-suffix. Oxford University Press.
• 中国社会科学院语言研究所词典编辑室 (2016). 《现代汉语词典》 (7th ed.). 商务印书馆.

Read More in This Topic

• The Four Tones of Mandarin Chinese: How to Hear and Say Them
• Mandarin Tone Sandhi: The Third Tone, 一 (yī) and 不 (bù)
• Mandarin Tone Pairs: Practising Tones in Two-Syllable Words

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