This is a guest post from That’s Mandarin. Find out more at the end of this article.
Having trouble distinguishing between when to use a certain pronunciation for the same character? Ever not understood a sentence because a character was pronounced differently?
If you have prior knowledge of Chinese, you must know that there are quite a few Chinese characters known as polyphones that can be pronounced in two or even three different ways depending on the context. Therefore, having a clear idea of how they should be pronounced in different situations will certainly take your listening comprehension to a higher level.
So, without further-a-do, let’s learn Mandarin Chinese polyphones.
1. 二 (èr) vs. 两 (liǎng)
Strictly speaking, these are two different characters. However, despite the fact that both characters stand for “two”, their pronunciation is completely different depending on the situation. When “2” is being counted as a number or appears in a code, it is pronounced as “èr”. However, when it is used with a measure word to indicate quantity, such as “two books”, it should be pronounced as “liǎng”.
Examples:
我的房间号是2503
Wǒ de fáng jiān hào shì èr wǔ líng sān
My room number is 2503
我要两杯茶
Wǒ yào liǎng bēi chá
I want two cups of tea
2. 少 (shǎo) vs. 少 (shào)
In terms of this character, what you need to pay attention to is that although the spelling remains unchanged, the tones are different depending on the context. When “少” is pronounced in the third tone, its meaning is “little” in terms of quantity. However, if the pronunciation is changed to the forth tone, the meaning of the character will become “young”.
Examples:
咖啡太少了
Kāifēi tài shǎo le
There is too little coffee
青少年应该努力学习
Qīngshàonián yīnggāi nǔlì xuéxí
Teenagers should study hard
Vocabulary:
青少年 (qīngshàonián) teenager(s)
应该 (yīnggāi) should
努力 (nǔlì) hardworking
3. 只(zhī) vs. 只(zhǐ)
This word can often be heard in Chinese people’s daily lives as it turns out to be a commonly-used measure word when it is pronounced in the first tone, and it is usually used to describe small animals. When the pronunciation of this word is changed to the third tone, it means “only” and it is often followed by a verb.
Examples:
我有一只小猫
Wǒ yǒu yī zhī xiǎo māo
I have a small cat
她只喜欢白色的衣服
Tā zhǐ xǐhuan báisè de yīfu
She only likes white clothes
Vocabulary:
猫 (māo) cat
白色 (bái sè) white color
衣服 (yīfu) clothes
4. 得(de) vs. 得 (děi)
得 (de) is one of the most important auxiliary words that can be used with an adjective in order to turn it into an adverb:
他中文说得很好
Tā zhōngwén shuō de hěn hǎo
He speaks Chinese very well
Thus, whenever you want to make a sentence like “Jason drives very fast” or “She dances very well”, you’ll need to use the structure “Noun + verb + 得 (de) + 很 (hěn) + adj”.
Well, when the word is pronounced as “děi”, it means “have to” and it is often followed by a verb.
Examples:
现在我得回家
Xiànzài wǒ děi huí jiā
I have to go home now
5. 难 (nán) vs. 难 (nàn)
No matter if it is pronounced in the second tone or the forth tone, this word has a derogatory meaning, which is “difficult” (when being pronounced in the second tone) and “catastrophe” (when being pronounced in the forth tone).
Examples
中文很难
Zhōngwén hěn nán
Chinese is difficult
台风是一种可怕的灾难
Táifēng shì yī zhǒng kěpà de zāinàn
Typhoon is a horrifying disaster
Vocabulary:
台风 (táifēng) typhoon
可怕 (kěpà) horrible, frightening
灾难 (zāinàn) disaster
Hopefully now you understand the importance to learn Mandarin Chinese polyphones, and are able to use them more often in your daily Mandarin Chinese experiences！
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