Grammar 文法 Man4 faat3̌
二. Pronunciation 拼音 Ping1 yam1

Cantonese tones
A tone is the pitch imposed on a syllable. Tones are very important in learning Cantonese because when the tone changes, the meaning will change accordingly. The small number at the right hand side of the word is the indication of the tone mark. For most of the Chinese words, there are six tones and they are classified in the following ways.

Tones
Example 1
Example 2
Example 3
Example 4
High level
夫﹙丈夫﹚fu1 (husband)
雙 (雙倍) soeng1 (double)
詩﹙詩歌﹚si1 (poem)
一 (one) yat1
High rising
苦﹙辛苦﹚fu2 (hard)
想﹙想法﹚soeng2 (think)
史﹙歷史﹚si2 (history)
碗 (bowl of) wun2
Mid level
富﹙富有﹚fu3 (rich)
相﹙長相﹚soeng3 (face)
試﹙嘗試﹚si3 (to try)
細 (small) sai3
Low falling
扶﹙扶持﹚fu4 (support)
常﹙經常﹚soeng4 (always)
時﹙時間﹚si4 (time)
牛 (beef) ngau4
Low rising
婦﹙婦人﹚fu5 (woman)
上﹙上學﹚soeng5 (go to school)
市﹙市場﹚si5 (market)
腩 (tender) beef naam5
Low level
父﹙父親﹚fu6 (father)
尚﹙尚未﹚soeng6 (not yet)
事﹙事情﹚si6 (matter)
飯 (rice) faan6