Hearing the many interjections Chinese speakers use at the end of sentence interjections is easy: they pepper the language so much, once you start hearing them, you hear them all the time! It’s useful to figure out how to use which in specific contexts. Most likely, no one taught you about those. So today we are going to show you some funny Chinese interjections.

The first thing we should figure out is that: why the Chinese like to pepper their language so much? Actually, you can not only hear them talking with interjections but also you can see them in written Chinese, online, in a text message, etc. This is a way to show their personalities. By using these interjections, you can show your attitude too. Especially when it comes to send a message, you can’t judge the tone people speaking to you because you can’t see their face, but using the interjections, you can easily tell that one is happy or angry. Kind of like sound emojis.

Showing that you are happy

哈哈 ha-ha is the way how Chinese people are laughing. Use it when something is funny, and you are laughing loudly. We say 哈哈大笑 hā-hā-dà-xiào as a Chinese idiom. And nowadays, people like to chat with each other at the end of each sentence to show that the speaker is in a good mood or to make the talking environment more relaxed.

For example:

我一会儿去你家哈。
Wǒ yì huí qù ní jiā ha.
I’ll go visiting you later.

Other interjections can also indicate that you are happy:

• 嘻嘻 xī-xī a witty laugh always following an act of twinkle;
• 嘿嘿 hēi-hēi, a sly grin;
• 呵呵 he-he. Pay particular attention to this word 呵呵. 呵 is variant of 啊 a, to express yelling, laughing or surprising. But now, the sense various: with the overuse of the netizen chatting online, it gradually becomes a perfunctory, sarcasm word to show that you’re speechless.

Sometimes it even has an abusive meaning.

For example:

呵呵，你真有意思。
Hē hē nǐ zhēn yǒu yì si.
He-he, you’re so funny. (in fact what the speaker means “you’re so boring”)

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Showing that you are surprised

哎呀 āi yā is an interjection to indicate surprise or shock.
If one day you run into a friend that you haven’t met in a long time.

You can say:

哎呀，怎么是你！
āi yā zěn me shì nǐ.
A-ya, it’s you!

It can also be used merely for saluting people you are familiar with :

For example:

哎，明天早点儿来啊！
Āi, míng tiān zǎo diǎn r lái a!
Hey, come earlier tomorrow!

You can also use 哎呀 to show your pain. Like “ouch/ow-witch” in English.

You can also say 哎哟/哎唷 āi-yo when something hurts or is hard to do, so pick the one you like or use both!

chinese aya

Other words to show your surprise:

• 哇 wa wow, holy cow;
• 呀 ya,
• 咦 yí gee, a rising tone to show your doubt or surprise with a question mark. You can always hear these in a  Taiwanese or Hongkongese drama.

Showing  negative emotions

• 呸 pēi ill: To express something is disgusting or yucky, you can use 呸 pēi ill to say “bah!” or “pooh”.
  

  For example:

  呸! 胡说八道!
  Pēi! Húshuō bādào!
  Bah! That’s nonsense!

• 唉 ài : to sigh or show that you are disappointed, you can use 唉ài

For example:

唉， 真可惜！
Āi, zhēn kěxí!
What a pity!

• 哼 hèng with the falling tone is to show that you’re angry.

For example:

哼，我不想理你了。
Hèng, wǒ bù xiǎng lǐ nǐ le.
Hein, I don’t want to talk to you anymore.

Interjections in an affirmative sentence

• If you want to show you realize or understand something, you can use 哦 o and 噢 o mean “Oh, I see.”

For example:

哦/噢我懂了。
Ò, wǒ dǒng le.
Oh! I see./ Oh! Now I understand.

• 嗯 ēn is used when you give an affirmative answer like “OK” in English, it sounds like “huh/hum.”
  

  For example:
  他嗯了一声， 就走了。
  tā èn le yī shēng ， jiù zǒu le 。
  He merely said,“H’m”, and went away.

• You can also use 呃 ē to show that you are thinking about something, similar to “uh…” in English.

For example:

呃…我没听懂。
Ē, wǒ méi tīng dǒng
Eh, I don’t understand.

Questioning with interjections

Usually, the Chinese like to add interjections after the end of a sentence to signify a question tag. To show that you are asking something. There are:

呢 ne

For example:

你们在说什么呢？
Nǐ men zài shuō shén me one?
What are you talking about?

嘛 ma

再分辩了，有错误就承认嘛！
zài fēn biàn le, yǒu cuò wù jiù chéng rèn ma ！
Don‘t try to explain away the situation. If you have made mistakes, just admit them.

吗 and 啊a are also two other interjections you can use to ask questions.

In Chinese, you don’t want to be too direct or upfront, to avoid placing the other in an uncomfortable situation, where they might risk losing face. Using 吧 ba to give a suggestion or want to ask the permission is a good way to make your question softer. All these interjections are in a neutral tone.

For example:

我们走路去吧？
Wǒ men zǒu lù qù ba?
Shall we walk there?

你们在说什么呢？
Nǐ men zài shuō shén me one?
What are you talking about?
Here’s a funny story to finish this

A funny story to end this journey into Chinese exclamative particles, or interjections.

Have you heard of the show 爸爸回来了(bà bà huí lái le /“Dad is coming)? It’s a super popular reality TV show about the daily life of famous Chinese stars, especially the relationships between fathers and their kids. In the second season of “Dad is coming,” there is a very cute boy, guess what his name is? 嗯哼 ēn-héng Uh-huh! Isn’t it a funny name, made only of interjections? His parents must have had their reasons to name their kid like that, and anyway, we bet it won’t stop you from thinking that he is adorable!

chinese cute

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When you’re learning a new language, being curious is a great quality to possess. We’ve decided to debut a new type of posts: Ask Nincha, where we share and answer questions our Chinese learners have asked us. This week, thanks to Philippe, we’ll see the tone sandhi. Challenging what you see, trying to understand why things work this way and not another is often the best way to make discoveries. In fact, questioning what you’ve learned and seeking patterns quite frequently leads to breakthroughs in your learning. Our learners at Ninchanese know that and therefore don’t hesitate to ask us questions using our feedback form. This week, Philippe, a Nincha Chinese learner, wants to know:

Why is 不 in 不要 and 不错  pronounced bu2 and not bu4 as written?

That’s a great question, and Philippe has a good ear! Sometimes the tones you see written differ from the tones you hear pronounced and that’s what’s happening here. The 不 in 不要 (bù yào – don’t) and 不错 (bù cuò – right) is pronounced bú (bu2) and not bù (bu4) as it normally is.

Why is that? Because tones don’t behave the same when you say several words together and when you just say one word by itself. The fact is tones change when used in combination. This fact is called tone sandhi.

For example, if our friend 不 here is followed by a second 4th tone (like 要 here, for instance), then the first 4th tone is automatically transformed into a second tone. Whatsmore, 不 is a special fella and has its own set of rules, which we’ll see below. 

Hang on, tone changes?

Before we go into the specifics of how tones can get modified, you may be still processing the fact that sometimes tones change in conversation and that a term like tone sandhi exists.

First, learning tone sandhi (aka the rules governing tone changes) is essential in Mandarin Chinese. Why is that? Because most of the time, you won’t find yourself only saying one word. You’ll be, most likely, saying a sentence, or at least a group of words. That’s usually what a normal conversation sounds like. It’s, therefore, a good idea to learn how tones behave in a sentence or a phrase.

So, It’s essential to grasp that what you know about the individual tone of a character will probably be different when you combine that character with another one to form a word. That’s why understanding the influence tones have on each other is an important step in your Chinese learning. It’s also key to speaking Chinese correctly.

3 rules to know

The first piece of good news is that modifications of tones follow rules, which are pretty simple to learn.

The second piece of good news is that while Mandarin has a number of instances of tone sandhi, there are only a few essential tone sandhi rules to master. Such as knowing some tones cannot stand being next to a similar tone, and would rather change than be the same as their neighbor. Chinese Tones are like that; you can’t question their personality. You just need to accept it.

If you’re ready to do that, great. Let’s dive straight into the tone changes you need to know when saying tones in combination/conversation.

一 and 不 both follow special tone rules

Two well-known tone sandhi rules involve the extremely common characters 一 and 不. In isolation, 一 and 不 have different tones. 一  is written yī (first tone) and 不 is written bù (fourth tone), but they are two special fellows who follow the same sets of rules.

Both 不 and 一 change their original tones when they meet a fourth tone. We’re not quite sure what’s up with the fourth tone, but it sure sounds like this falling tone doesn’t sit well with some characters. 不 and 一 definitely like being different, you see. Therefore, the Chinese have nicely decided to allow 不 and 一  to ditch their original tones and change them to second tones if they are followed by a fourth tone.

In short: for 不 , Bù changes to bú before another fourth-toned syllable, like so: 4–4 → 2–4. For 一, yī changes to yi2 when it’s followed by a fourth tone, like so:  1-4 → 2-4.

That’s why, as Philippe noticed, the 不 in  不要 or 不错 is pronounced bu2 and not bù (bu4). The tone sandhi rule for 不 followed by a fourth tone is applied.

Here are a few more examples:

不对 (not correct) is written bù duì (bu4 dui4) but is pronounced bú duì (bu2 dui4)
不必 (not necessarily) is written bù bì (bu4 bi4) but is pronounced bú bì (bu2 bi4)

In a similar way, 一 changes its first tone into a second tone:

一个 (one) is written yī gè (yi1 ge4) but is pronounced yi2 ge4
一共 (altogether) is written  yī gòng (yi1 gong4) but is pronounced yígòng (yi2 gong4)

不 and  一 can also be neutral

Now that you know that the angry 不 with its aggressive fourth tone and the flat-lining  一 with its first turn can both turn into a second tone, let’s add a twist. Neutral zone!

See, when “不” followed by a fourth tone BUT comes between two words in a yes-no question, it loses its tone. That’s right, bù becomes bu, neutral in tone, in some cases, rather than turning into a second tone.

是不是 (is or is not) is written shìbùshì but becomes shìbushì in speaking

The same thing happens to 一 who can also change to the neutral tone, depending on the speaker or the discourse style.

一个  can become yi gè, for example.

So how do you know which rule to apply? A way to keep this in mind is to think about the context: is the word here being emphasized in the conversation?

If yes, opt for a second tone.

If not, it’s an unstressed part of the sentence, and as a result, it loses its tone. This is frequently the case in natural conversation in Mandarin.

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I’ve used Ninchanese daily, and it has helped me a lot!  “

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An exception to the tone sandhi rules for 一

You’ll run into exceptions in tone sandhi for  一when you’re using the number 1 in a counting sequence or as part of another word. In these cases, it remains a first tone.

一月 (January) is written yī yuè (yi1 yue4) and remains pronounced yī yuè (yi1 yue4), despite the following fourth tone.

Third tone: a more complex tone that you think

Third tones are often learners’ favorite tones, because, on its own, a third tone’s rising and falling pitch is instantly recognizable. This usually makes the third tone the easiest of the 5 tones to recognize, at first. However, things get hairier when you realize third tones are far from being this simple, especially when they have company. Let’s just start talking about changes in third tones by saying that a whole chapter could be dedicated to third tones and their behavior. In fact, some actually dedicated their memoirs to the changes in this tone.

Third tone changes when in pairs

We’re going to try to make it short here and give you a concise picture of what goes on with third tones. We still want you to like third tones, after all, so let’s try to make this explanation as simple as it can be.

• If a third tone is followed by another third tone,  the first third tone becomes a rising “half third” tone. Technically, you just pronounce the rising first-half of the third tone but for simplification purposes, it’s often said that it becomes a second tone.

For example, 你好 (hello) is written nǐ hǎo (ni3 hao3) but it’s pronounced ni2 hao3
很好 (good) is written hěn hǎo (hen3 hao3) but it’s pronounced hen2 hao3

• When a third tone is followed by any other tone, it often transforms into a low, falling “half-third” tone.

Third tone changes when in triples and more

• If there are three third tones in a row, tone sandhi rules of third tones  get more complicated. For instance: In a string of words all with third tones, if the first word is two syllables, and the second word is one syllable, the first two syllables become second tones, and the last syllable stays a 3rd tone.

保管 好 (to guarantee well) is written bǎoguǎn hǎo but becomes bao2guan2 hǎo.

Then again, how the tones behave depends on how you break down the string of words and a number of other things. So, based on who you speak to and what words you pick, you may hear different rules. The truth is the way the third tones behave depends on several variables we won’t go into here. What you need to remember is that in most cases, the third tone will behave as a low tone and that as long as you mimick what natives say, you should be okay. Learn more about the third tone here and here.

Tone Contours, courtesy Sinosplice and Grammar Wkiki

One last tone sandhi rule we could talk about here is quiet second tones. See, in some cases, the second character in a word loses its tone and becomes neutral, like in 爸爸. But quiet second tones are a fascinating and complex subject we won’t go into details here yet. We’ll be telling you about them soon, though.

 How do you know when to apply tone changes?

Are you wondering when to apply tone changes? And perhaps how to spot if there’s been a tone change applied? Good questions to be asking yourself.

First of all, the standard is to always make that tone change when speaking. It’s a given: if you’re saying more than one syllable at a time, mind your tone sandhi switches. This is why in Ninchanese our audio automatically includes tone changes. In writing, the

Second, that’s not the case in writing. In writing, the characters and sentences you learn do not follow tone changes, and that’s the norm. Why is that? There’s no simple way to indicate whether the tone you’re reading follows or not tone sandhi (i.e those tone changes we’ve been telling you about). So, it’s standard to not change tones in writing. That means you are expected to automatically make the changes in your head when you speak and read a sentence. Now you know.

Getting used to thinking about tone sandhi rules

Getting used to changing tones — in your head — can take some time, let’s be blunt. The main issue resides in the fact you have to think about the fact you’re going to be stringing two or more characters together and therefore will be needing to apply tone changes. But don’t worry and by all means, don’t keep yourself from talking if you’re not sure what rule to apply! It’s something you learn with time.

Yes, believe our experience, with time, applying tone sandhi can become as automatic as knowing when to say “a” and “an” in English.

A summary of the major tone sandhi rules to know

Feeling ready to start changing your tones in natural conversation in Chinese? Good. Before we leave you, here’s a summary of the different behaviors tones can adopt based on what they’re followed by.

Now you know that tones aren’t always very open, and sometimes want to show a different face to others.

A visual summary of tone changes when in pairs – credit: Hacking Chinese

We hope these explanations will have helped you understand better what tone sandhi is about and when you need to think about changing your tones in conversation in Mandarin. As often, practice, practice, and mirroring others (native speakers preferably) is the best way to fully master tone sandhi changes. Do you have any questions about tone sandhi or specific tone changes? Let us know in the comments and we’ll gladly answer! Also, if you want to #askNincha your own Chinese related question, head here and fire away! 

Sarah, a meowsome member of the

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