Mandarin is a tonal language, meaning the tone/pitch/intonation that you use to emphasize a word changes its meaning.

You can say “hi” in a really excited or shy way but in English that doesn’t change the meaning of the word. It’s still a greeting.

There are four tones used in Mandarin.

First tone – Mā (flat)

• The meaning here is mother.

Second tone – Má (up)

• The meaning is hemp.

Third tone – Mǎ (down up)

• The meaning here is horse.

Fourth tone – Mà (down)

• The meaning here is to scold.

Visualize it like a rollercoaster that starts going out flat, then it goes up, then it goes down up and down again.