Answers
Jul 14, 2014 - 10:21 AM
I might not be the best person to answer this; as I don't have the Mandarin DVDs and am not part of the Fluenz team. But i'll give you my opinion as a native Mandarin Chinese speaker. Both are actually correct. For example, to emphasize a strong negative (e.g. No!) 不! would be Bu4. However, it also depends on if there is another word following it. Like the phrase 不是! (Also loosely "No", or "Not really") then it would be Bu2 Shi4. The tone is modified by the word following it to make it sound smoother. Rising tone and falling tone, instead of two falling tones. (Bu2 Shi4 instead of Bu4 Shi4). Hope this helps.
Jul 14, 2014 - 10:47 AM
Hi Deco!
Thanks for your question! The tones in Mandarin can be tricky, especially in situations like this where they can change. As Eugene Soo mentioned, although "bu" is commonly used as 4th tone (falling), the tone for "bu" can actually change depending on the word that follows. If the word following "bu" is in the 4th tone (falling), you can change "bu" to the 2nd tone (rising). This is because saying two 4th tones in a row is a little difficult. By switching the tone for "bu" to second tone, it flows better. The phrase "bú shì" meaning "is not" is a great example of this.
If we can help further, please email us at: [email protected]
Cheers,
Fluenz Team
Thanks for your question! The tones in Mandarin can be tricky, especially in situations like this where they can change. As Eugene Soo mentioned, although "bu" is commonly used as 4th tone (falling), the tone for "bu" can actually change depending on the word that follows. If the word following "bu" is in the 4th tone (falling), you can change "bu" to the 2nd tone (rising). This is because saying two 4th tones in a row is a little difficult. By switching the tone for "bu" to second tone, it flows better. The phrase "bú shì" meaning "is not" is a great example of this.
If we can help further, please email us at: [email protected]
Cheers,
Fluenz Team