<blockquote>
<p>Is it correct to pronounce a (3-3) as (3h- 3h) or it must be pronounced (2-3) anyway?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>No, it would be wrong. It must be 2nd-3rd.</p>
<p>In some places is quite common 2-3h, but never 3h-3h.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-17T19:14:54.483Z
3h-3h will also be too close to 4-4
Rusurano
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-17T19:14:06.440Z
2021-07-17T19:14:06.440Z
Joe at wearyourchinesename.com
<p>They are pronounced as 2-3 but only if they are within the same word boundary. If not, they are still pronounced as 3-3. I have given this example before:(一桶)(柳橙)。桶and柳are both third tone. Because they are in different word boundaries, there is no tone sandhi. They are pronounced as 3-3, or, more accurately, 3h-3h.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-19T01:36:36.003Z
@Giuseppe Romanazzi Thanks for the comment. I'm not a linguist and really can't tell if there is a pause between the 2 3h's. I tried to say 我明天要去買一桶柳橙as quickly as I could and didn't seem to detect the pause you mentioned.
joehua
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-28T23:25:54.193Z
Sorry, I've just seen your comment. What I really mean is that what you said "Because they are in different word boundaries, there is no tone sandhi" is not Mandarin Chinese (普通话). I'm very serious in asking you if there is any way to post an MP3 file with your pronunciation of that sentence. It might be that 1) you cannot detect that you do change the tone of 桶 from 3rd to 2nd, or 2) your pronunciation is affected by a local accent. Tones in 一桶柳橙 are 4th-2nd-3rd-2nd. Another example: 一碗米饭 (4th-2nd-3rd-4th). Can you post here an audio file?
Joe at wearyourchinesename.com
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-29T05:30:08.163Z
@Giuseppe Romanazzi can it be done by email? I don't want my voice to be a public record.
joehua
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-29T07:12:48.910Z
Sure, send it to me, please. Just choose one of my domains (see profile) and add whatever you want before @ (joehua@wea...com or joehua@gius...com for example, but I would get your email whatever you write before @).
Joe at wearyourchinesename.com
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-29T14:16:56.317Z
I heard your two audio files, thanks. The pronunciation of 我明天要去買一桶柳橙 is correct, and yes, you do change the tone of 桶 from 3rd to 2nd. On the contrary, the pronunciation of 一碗米饭 is to be improved. In the audio file it is pronounced twice yì wǎn mí fen.
Joe at wearyourchinesename.com
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-30T01:43:38.720Z
@Giuseppe would you send me 一桶柳橙 in 4-2-3-2 and 4-3h-pause-3h-2?
joehua
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-30T09:39:48.080Z
The following is the audio of 一桶柳橙 (actually it is 4-2-3h-2, but here we are not talking about the 3-2 combination, so let's focus on what to do with two consecutive 3rd tones):[https://wearyourchinesename.com/audio/joehua1.m4a](https://wearyourchinesename.com/audio/joehua1.m4a)
Joe at wearyourchinesename.com
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-30T09:42:19.123Z
About the similar 一碗米饭, I found the following pages (they both include an audio file): [https://www.trainchinese.com/v2/wordDetails.php?rAp=0&wordId=90381&oldLanguage=es](https://www.trainchinese.com/v2/wordDetails.php?rAp=0&wordId=90381&oldLanguage=es) and [https://www.trainchinese.com/v2/wordDetails.php?rAp=0&wordId=91488&tcLanguage=en](https://www.trainchinese.com/v2/wordDetails.php?rAp=0&wordId=91488&tcLanguage=en)
Joe at wearyourchinesename.com
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-30T10:03:05.763Z
The following is the audio of 4-3h-pause-3h-2. When I said 3h-pause-3h I was trying to tell you that in Mandarin Chinese two consecutive 3rd tones or two consecutive half 3rd tones is a NO-NO. In the audio you find the following situation: you start saying 一桶 but you stop (in the audio you can listen to the actual 3h pronounced alone after yì) because you are not sure if you want 苹果, 梨子, or 柳橙 (so the pause), then you say 柳橙. [https://wearyourchinesename.com/audio/joehua2.m4a](https://wearyourchinesename.com/audio/joehua2.m4a)
Joe at wearyourchinesename.com
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-18T03:21:37.180Z
2021-07-18T03:21:37.180Z
joehua
<p>I know that when a 3rd tone is followed by another 3rd tone, (3-3) it is pronounced (2-3).
On the other hand, I know that a 3rd tone followed by a non-3rd tone and on many other occasions is pronounced a &quot;<a href="https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/pronunciation/Four_tones#Updated_Tone_Diagram" rel="nofollow noreferrer">half 3-rd tone</a>&quot;. For example (lao3 shi1) is pronounced (lao3h shi1), that is (3h-1)</p>
<p>My question is, Is it correct to pronounce a (3-3) as (3h- 3h) or it must be pronounced (2-3) anyway?</p>

<pronunciation><sandhi>
Under the rules for tone sandhi and half 3-rd tones, is it correct to pronounce a (3-3) as (3h- 3h) or it must be pronounced (2-3)?
# Under the rules for tone sandhi and half 3-rd tones, is it correct to pronounce a (3-3) as (3h- 3h) or it must be pronounced (2-3)?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-07-17)

I know that when a 3rd tone is followed by another 3rd tone, (3-3) it is pronounced (2-3).
On the other hand, I know that a 3rd tone followed by a non-3rd tone and on many other occasions is pronounced a "[half 3-rd tone](https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/pronunciation/Four_tones#Updated_Tone_Diagram)". For example (lao3 shi1) is pronounced (lao3h shi1), that is (3h-1)

My question is, Is it correct to pronounce a (3-3) as (3h- 3h) or it must be pronounced (2-3) anyway?

**Tags:** pronunciation, sandhi


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2021-07-17. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

> Is it correct to pronounce a (3-3) as (3h- 3h) or it must be pronounced (2-3) anyway?

No, it would be wrong. It must be 2nd-3rd.

In some places is quite common 2-3h, but never 3h-3h.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: 3h-3h will also be too close to 4-4  

---

### Answer by username_3 on 2021-07-18. Score: 7

They are pronounced as 2-3 but only if they are within the same word boundary. If not, they are still pronounced as 3-3. I have given this example before:(一桶)(柳橙)。桶and柳are both third tone. Because they are in different word boundaries, there is no tone sandhi. They are pronounced as 3-3, or, more accurately, 3h-3h.

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: @Giuseppe Romanazzi Thanks for the comment. I'm not a linguist and really can't tell if there is a pause between the 2 3h's. I tried to say 我明天要去買一桶柳橙as quickly as I could and didn't seem to detect the pause you mentioned.  
> **username_1**: Sorry, I've just seen your comment. What I really mean is that what you said "Because they are in different word boundaries, there is no tone sandhi" is not Mandarin Chinese (普通话). I'm very serious in asking you if there is any way to post an MP3 file with your pronunciation of that sentence. It might be that 1) you cannot detect that you do change the tone of 桶 from 3rd to 2nd, or 2) your pronunciation is affected by a local accent. Tones in 一桶柳橙 are 4th-2nd-3rd-2nd. Another example: 一碗米饭 (4th-2nd-3rd-4th). Can you post here an audio file?  
> **username_3**: @Giuseppe Romanazzi can it be done by email? I don't want my voice to be a public record.  
> **username_1**: Sure, send it to me, please. Just choose one of my domains (see profile) and add whatever you want before @ (username_3@wea...com or username_3@gius...com for example, but I would get your email whatever you write before @).  
> **username_1**: I heard your two audio files, thanks. The pronunciation of 我明天要去買一桶柳橙 is correct, and yes, you do change the tone of 桶 from 3rd to 2nd. On the contrary, the pronunciation of 一碗米饭 is to be improved. In the audio file it is pronounced twice yì wǎn mí fen.  
> **username_3**: @Giuseppe would you send me 一桶柳橙 in 4-2-3-2 and 4-3h-pause-3h-2?  
> **username_1**: The following is the audio of 一桶柳橙 (actually it is 4-2-3h-2, but here we are not talking about the 3-2 combination, so let's focus on what to do with two consecutive 3rd tones):[https://username_1/audio/joehua1.m4a](https://username_1/audio/joehua1.m4a)  
> **username_1**: About the similar 一碗米饭, I found the following pages (they both include an audio file): [https://www.trainchinese.com/v2/wordDetails.php?rAp=0&wordId=90381&oldLanguage=es](https://www.trainchinese.com/v2/wordDetails.php?rAp=0&wordId=90381&oldLanguage=es) and [https://www.trainchinese.com/v2/wordDetails.php?rAp=0&wordId=91488&tcLanguage=en](https://www.trainchinese.com/v2/wordDetails.php?rAp=0&wordId=91488&tcLanguage=en)  
> **username_1**: The following is the audio of 4-3h-pause-3h-2. When I said 3h-pause-3h I was trying to tell you that in Mandarin Chinese two consecutive 3rd tones or two consecutive half 3rd tones is a NO-NO. In the audio you find the following situation: you start saying 一桶 but you stop (in the audio you can listen to the actual 3h pronounced alone after yì) because you are not sure if you want 苹果, 梨子, or 柳橙 (so the pause), then you say 柳橙. [https://username_1/audio/joehua2.m4a](https://username_1/audio/joehua2.m4a)  

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