How to say “tone” in Chinese
tone, intonation
“Tone” in Chinese is 语气, yǔ qì: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.
How to pronounce it
语气 is read yǔ qì: 2 syllables. The tone is part of the word: with another melody you get another word, or just a jumble of sounds.
How to write it
On the left, 讠 “speech”.
In 不客气 it is read with the neutral tone: qi.
Strokes go in order: top to bottom and left to right, horizontal before vertical. Tap a character to open its page, with the strokes shown large and the words it appears in. To train your hand, print a handwriting sheet for “语气”.
Examples
Sentences from the course lessons with 语气. Tap the sound icon to listen.
- 注意你的语气zhùyìnǐdeyǔqìWatch your tone!
More words from the lesson “Putting It into Words”
Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say “tone” in Chinese?
“Tone” in Chinese is 语气, pinyin yǔqì.
What does 语气 mean?
语气 (yǔqì) means “tone, intonation”.
How do you write 语气?
语气 is 2 characters: 语 (yǔ) — language, speech; 气 (qì) — air, spirit. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.
How do you pronounce 语气?
语气 is read yǔqì. Tones: yǔ — third tone, qì — fourth tone. The page has a native speaker recording.
“tone” in the lesson “Putting It into Words”
This word is from the topic “Learning and Language” of HSK 5. In the lesson you hear it in a dialogue, build a sentence with it and say it out loud. Start for free, no sign-up needed.
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