English–Chinese
“intonation” in Chinese
Chinese
Pronunciation
Pinyinyì yáng dùn cuò
Example
老师要求我们练习抑扬顿挫，说得更自然。lǎo shī yāo qiú wǒ men liàn xí yì yáng dùn cuò shuō de gèng zì rán
The teacher asked us to practice our intonation and speak more naturally.
How to say “intonation” in Chinese
“Intonation” in Chinese is 抑扬顿挫 (yì yáng dùn cuò).
The changing vocal contour that carries a sentence through rises, falls, emphasis, and measured breaks instead of a flat stream.
Example sentences with 抑扬顿挫
他的朗读没有抑扬顿挫，听起来很单调。tā de lǎng dú méi yǒu yì yáng dùn cuò tīng qǐ lái hěn dān diào
His reading had no variation in intonation, so it sounded very monotonous.
Tips for using 抑扬顿挫
- A grammatically correct sentence can still sound unnatural when every word receives equal timing and force, so spoken Chinese needs attention to vocal shape as well as vocabulary.