<p>In addition to @fefe's answer, which correctly explains this very basic pronunciation rule, I'd suggest to search for videos in Standard Mandarin about 一举两得 and see how its pronunciation is invariably <strong>yìjúliǎngdé</strong>.</p>
<hr />
<p><a href="https://baike.baidu.com/video?lemmaId=1910990&amp;from=wise&amp;ivk_sa=1024630g" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Example 1</a><br />
(His pronunciation is <strong>yìjúliǎngdé</strong>, 4-2-3h-2)</p>
<p>In the video, the man repeats 一举两得 four times. For your convenience, I cut out those small portions of audio. You can listen to the first occurrence clicking on the following link:</p>
<p><a href="https://www.wearyourchinesename.com/audio/1tuttoa.mp3" rel="nofollow noreferrer">一举两得 in video 1</a></p>
<p>To make it even easier, I further cut only the portion 举两:</p>
<p><a href="https://www.wearyourchinesename.com/audio/1julianga.mp3" rel="nofollow noreferrer">举两 in video 1</a></p>
<hr />
<p><a href="http://baike.baidu.com/l/42wJGbk?bk_share=copy&amp;bk_sharefr=wapbaike" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Example 2</a><br />
(Her pronunciation is <strong>yìjúliǎngdé</strong>, 4-2-3h-2)</p>
<p>In this video, the woman repeats 一举两得 five times. As I did for the previous video, for your convenience I cut out these small portions of audio. You can listen to the first occurrence clicking on the following link:</p>
<p><a href="https://www.wearyourchinesename.com/audio/2tuttoa.mp3" rel="nofollow noreferrer">一举两得 in video 2</a></p>
<p>And it should be easier to get it with the help of the following further cut of 举两:</p>
<p><a href="https://www.wearyourchinesename.com/audio/2julianga.mp3" rel="nofollow noreferrer">举两 in video 2</a></p>
<hr />
<p><a href="http://baike.baidu.com/l/kyaI1d4s?bk_share=copy&amp;bk_sharefr=wapbaike" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Example 3</a><br />
(Her pronunciation is <strong>yìjúliǎngdé</strong>, 4-2-3h-2)</p>
<p>In this last video, the woman repeats 一举两得 eight times. As with the previous videos, click here for <a href="https://www.wearyourchinesename.com/audio/3tuttoa.mp3" rel="nofollow noreferrer">一举两得 in video 3</a> and here for <a href="https://www.wearyourchinesename.com/audio/3julianga.mp3" rel="nofollow noreferrer">举两 in video 3</a>.</p>
<h2>Exercise</h2>
<hr />
<h2>举</h2>
<p>The last video is great because she pronounces 举 in three different ways (click on the links and listen to her different pronunciations, then try to repeat):</p>
<p><strong>举 alone</strong> at 00:16, 上声, third tone:<br />
<a href="https://www.wearyourchinesename.com/audio/3judasolo.mp3" rel="nofollow noreferrer">举3</a></p>
<p><strong>举 in 举动</strong> at 00:18, 半上声, half third tone:<br />
<a href="https://www.wearyourchinesename.com/audio/3juinjudong.mp3" rel="nofollow noreferrer">举3h</a></p>
<p><strong>举 in 一举两得</strong> at 00:08, 阳平, second tone:<br />
<a href="https://www.wearyourchinesename.com/audio/3juinjuliang.mp3" rel="nofollow noreferrer">举2</a></p>
<p>Besides, I put all three 举 in succession (third, half-third, and second tone) to make clear the difference. Listen to it here:<br />
<a href="https://www.wearyourchinesename.com/audio/3-3h-2.mp3" rel="nofollow noreferrer">举3-3h-2</a></p>
<h2>举两</h2>
<p>Let's listen now to 举两 using the three different pronunciations of 举 (I've used the same pieces of 举 audio of the previous paragraph):</p>
<p><a href="https://www.wearyourchinesename.com/audio/33h.mp3" rel="nofollow noreferrer">举两3-3h</a> (<strong>don't</strong> repeat it :-)</p>
<p><a href="https://www.wearyourchinesename.com/audio/3h3h.mp3" rel="nofollow noreferrer">举两3h-3h</a> (<strong>don't</strong> repeat it :-)</p>
<p>Do you want to compare them with the correct one 举两2-3h? Here they are:</p>
<p><a href="https://www.wearyourchinesename.com/audio/33h-23h.mp3" rel="nofollow noreferrer">举两3-3h 举两2-3h</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.wearyourchinesename.com/audio/3h3h-23h.mp3" rel="nofollow noreferrer">举两3h-3h 举两2-3h</a></p>
<hr />
<h2>一举两得</h2>
<p>Do you wonder what the pronunciation of 一举两得 would be if 举 were in the third or half-third tone? Click the following links and try <strong>not</strong> to repeat! Note that, again, I've used the same pieces of 举 audio of the paragraph above.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.wearyourchinesename.com/audio/433h2.mp3" rel="nofollow noreferrer">一举两得 4-3-3h-2</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.wearyourchinesename.com/audio/43h3h2.mp3" rel="nofollow noreferrer">一举两得 4-3h-3h-2</a></p>
<p>The following is the correct one, that is what she actually says eight times:</p>
<p><a href="https://www.wearyourchinesename.com/audio/3tuttoa.mp3" rel="nofollow noreferrer">一举两得 4-2-3h-2</a></p>
<p>Compare it with each of the mispronounced ones:</p>
<p><a href="https://www.wearyourchinesename.com/audio/423h2-433h2.mp3" rel="nofollow noreferrer">一举2两得 一举3两得</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.wearyourchinesename.com/audio/423h2-43h3h2.mp3" rel="nofollow noreferrer">一举2两得 一举3h两得</a></p>
<p>Lastly, in the following audio file you can listen to all the three &quot;versions&quot; of 一举两得 in succession (4-2-3h-2, 4-3-3h-2, and 4-3h-3h-2):</p>
<p><a href="https://www.wearyourchinesename.com/audio/423h2-433h2-43h3h2.mp3" rel="nofollow noreferrer">一举2两得 一举3两得 一举3h两得</a></p>
<p>P.S.: I would love to add some output from the tool suggested by @joehua. @joehua, can you help?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-20T00:28:23.473Z
Here is the [website](https://www.speechandhearing.net/laboratory/ampitch/) that provides free pitch analyses. Everyone is welcome to use it to analyze the tones of his/her speech.
joehua
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-20T12:11:37.660Z
I opened the first example, both pronounce 一举两得 ad 4-3-3-2, the woman even has the pinyin written on the blackboard. Please make sure you are not mistaken.
r13
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-20T19:12:51.477Z
@r13 In the first video is a man talking, in the second and third are two women. If you pronounce 一举两得 like them, that is fine. What you believe to be 4-3-3-2 actually is 4-2-3h-2. In order to make the difference evident, I will add ASAP some educational exercises in my answer, also including the results from the tool joehua suggested.
Joe at wearyourchinesename.com
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-20T19:13:11.467Z
@r13 About what you see written on the blackboard, it is common practice (unless for educational purpose) not to alter the original pinyin of each singol character. Also dictionaries like 现代汉语词典 don't modify pinyin in case of tone sandhi. For example, 老板 is still written as lǎobǎn (it is not modified according to its pronunciation láobǎn). The pinyin of 不 and 一 is not modified as well.
Joe at wearyourchinesename.com
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-20T19:40:22.863Z
Note that you may often hear people say 癆板 in conservations, but it's not because of the rule you cited. If you ask the person the pronunciation of the word "boss", he will likely reply with the formal pronunciation - 老板 (3-3). Some sounds are very difficult to distinguish for foreign speakers, but often it is easy for the native speakers, same as many Asians couldn't tell the difference between the pronunciation of "N" and "ING", but shouldn't be difficult for you if you are an American. Also note, not all Chinese are capable of pronouncing a word correctly, try 兒 and 日 sounds for example.
r13
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-20T20:48:03.827Z
@r13 Anyway, I forgot to thank you because you took the initiative to address me instead of fefe under fefe's correct answer. I felt honored. 
Joe at wearyourchinesename.com
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-20T20:57:41.137Z
:) Do not mean picking, just happened to check the video to see whether I am outdated with the current teaching/trend or not. The Chinese evolve like any other language over time.
r13
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-21T03:31:00.770Z
@dan Chinese has many "破音字" - words with more than one sound, such as "你好/愛好"; "新鮮/朝鮮"; "不要/不行"; "一心/一意"; "段落/丟三落四"; "乾淨/乾坤"...I believe you aware too. However, for teaching purposes, we provide 注音 with tone exactly the way it should be pronounced because there is no "single/standard pronunciation" for 破音字, for which the sound is usage dependent, it changes for certain uses. Also, the dictionary dutifully lists all sounds of a 破音字 with example usages. But admittedly, people still make mistakes (mainly due to schooling) and have been teased/ridiculed for their mispronunciation.
r13
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-22T05:43:33.080Z
@GiuseppeRomanazzi please rest assured that as a native speaker grown up in mainland china with fairly standard 普通话, I do not see any major problem in your comments above. Your sense is good and your theory seems all correct to me. Please do not get distracted by comments by some people who are likely not really native speakers (in 普通话's standard)
ALife
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-22T12:32:49.353Z
@ALife Thank you for your kindness.
Joe at wearyourchinesename.com
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-19T21:08:28.017Z
2021-10-21T19:26:35.803Z
2021-10-21T19:26:35.803Z
Joe at wearyourchinesename.com
<p>It's very <em><strong>convenient</strong></em> to pronounce two consecutive third tone 3-3 as 2-3. A simple example is 你好. I have to make a clear effort to make &quot;nǐ hǎo&quot;. But &quot;ní hǎo&quot; comes pretty naturally and fast from my mouth.</p>
<p>This might be <em><strong>regional</strong></em> where people could make a easier &quot;nǐ hǎo&quot; than &quot;ní hǎo&quot;.</p>
<p>Anyway, my point is that if you pronounce 3-3 as 2-3, I wouldn't feel any oddity there.</p>
<p>Have fun!</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-21T07:27:41.310Z
You do mean "2-3" and not "3-2", I assume? Pronouncing 3-3 as 2-3 is normal, but pronouncing it as 3-2 would be highly unusual. :)
Olle Linge
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-21T08:12:24.893Z
@OlleLinge Typo, edited. Thanks!
dan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-20T04:14:02.683Z
2021-10-21T08:11:48.313Z
2021-10-21T08:11:48.313Z
dan
<p>In actual speech (after tone sandhi), two third tones <strong>never</strong> appear consecutively, whether they are in one word or not.</p>
<p>So it should be pronounced as yi4ju2liang3de2 (tone sandhi also happens for yi1).</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-19T12:41:25.833Z
"two third tones never appear consecutively" I beg to differ. I have given the example (一桶)(柳橙)。My pronunciation of it is 1-3-3-2. I even used a pitch analysis program to analyze my pronunciation and confirmed it's 1-3-3-2. The first 3, however, is only a half 3. It's missing the second half, exactly like what imkzh said above.
joehua
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-19T18:45:51.440Z
@fefe 请问，你是北京人吗? If so, can you provide an audio file with your pronunciation of 一举两得 and 一桶柳橙, please?
Joe at wearyourchinesename.com
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-19T22:01:33.390Z
@GiuseppeRomanazzi I affirm "joehua" is correct, I (non-Pekingese) pronounce it either way without a problem. (1332 or 4332, the former is the common way though)
r13
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-19T22:36:19.907Z
@r13 Actually, I heard joehua's pronunciation of 一桶柳橙 (he kindly sent me a recording), and it is without any doubt yìtóngliǔchén. It is understandable that some native speakers cannot recognize their own tones. You got them from childhood when you didn't need to know which was what tone. Might it be the same with you? Can you post an audio file of your pronunciation of 一举两得? Or maybe of the so loved 一桶柳橙 (even if I would prefer the more common 一碗米饭)?
Joe at wearyourchinesename.com
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-19T23:48:55.540Z
@GiuseppeRomanazzi The reason I know is that when in elementary school we have to read the book and write with the accompany 音標 (Zhuyin) and tone by the side of the word or sentence. If you read 一举两得 as 4-2-3-2 then it will sound 一"局"两得 1-2-3-2 or 4-2-3-2. I don't think that's the sound you usually hear.
r13
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-20T00:14:12.990Z
@GiuseppeRomanazzi There are very few Chinese words that the meaning remains the same while the tone changes, "ㄧ" is one of the exceptions, I couldn't even find another at this time. Basically, the Chinese rely a lot on the tone to distinguish the word they hear, and that's why there are so many jokes about conversations between people speaking different dialects and people having a heavy regional accent, as well as the foreigners, mainly, and often, because some people couldn't pronounce one of the words in the sentence with the correct tone.
r13
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-20T00:21:41.657Z
@Giuseppe Romanazzi " it is without any doubt yìtóngliǔchén"??? As I had said before, one cannot beat a pitch analysis program. Didn't I send you the pitch analysis file? The pitch for 桶is clearly going down. The pitch for the 2nd tone is going up. "One cannot beat a pitch analysis program". I told you so last time.
joehua
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-20T05:34:50.573Z
Hi @joehua. Suggestion 1: what happened is that the first file you sent me was yìtóngliǔchén and then you told me "I used an online pitch analysis site to analyze my voice of 一桶柳橙。Originally, I was going to play back the sound file I sent you earlier but the result wasn't good. So, I spoke it again". So my first suggestion is: do not alter your natural pronunciation just to make your point.
Joe at wearyourchinesename.com
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-20T05:44:35.970Z
Suggestion 2: the fact is that you yourself told me that the pitch analysis program has some issues. Infact you wrote "What's surprise to me is that when I said 桶 in the 2nd tone, it appears to be the 3rd tone. As can be seen in the second half of the jpg file, both 桶 and 橙 are 3rd tone while in my ears, they are 2nd tone (or, at least,  that's what I was trying to pronounce.)". So my second suggestion is: AI softwares can still be unreliable. Don't trust them blindly.
Joe at wearyourchinesename.com
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-20T06:27:31.673Z
Hi @r13, you are right when you said "if you read 一举两得 as 4-2-3-2 then it will sound 一"局"两得 1-2-3-2 or 4-2-3-2." Yes, that is exactly how it should (and actually does in Standard Mandarin as in the videos in my answer) sound. I see you may not like this rule because you feel that some characters or words are pronounced differently, but the rule stands and we have to comply if we want our speech to be Standard Mandarin. For example, 你好 sounds as 泥好, 五百 as 无百, 老板 as 痨板 , etc.
Joe at wearyourchinesename.com
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-20T11:34:35.150Z
@Giuseppe Romanazi " the pitch analysis program has some issues.". I don't think that's the issue of the pitch analysis program. It must be my pronunciation. This is a simple program. It just records the frequency of the speech. Have you ever tried to use that program, whose web site I have listed below? Again, let me repeat it one more time: you can't beat  a pitch analysis program.
joehua
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-21T06:16:09.823Z
I'm not going to comment on your debate, but I've used pitch analysis programs for hundreds of hours and I can definitely tell you than they are not simple and not without problems. If you don't know what you're doing and using the appropriate settings for what you want to investigate, you can easily generate very weird pitch patterns for short, isolated samples.
Olle Linge
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-21T17:52:19.480Z
Also, after reading all the other answers and comments, this is the correct one. :) The fact that there are many native speakers who can't explicitly describe how tone sandhi works is not surprising. Being able to speak a language is different from being able to describe it accurately. I know much more about Mandarin phonology than either Swedish phonology, even though my pronunciation is undoubtedly better in my native language. That happens in all languages and there's nothing strange or wrong about it!
Olle Linge
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-19T05:43:27.880Z
2021-10-19T05:43:27.880Z
fefe
<p>My teacher said I pronounce this wrong:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?wdqb=%E4%B8%80%E4%B8%BE%E4%B8%A4%E5%BE%97" rel="nofollow noreferrer">CC-CEDICT</a>: 一举两得 (yī​jǔ​liǎng​dé​) one move, two gains (idiom); two birds with one stone</p>
</blockquote>
<p>On paper, the tones are 一(1) 举(3) 两(3) 得(2), but then we need to incorporate <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tone_sandhi#Mandarin_Chinese" rel="nofollow noreferrer">tone sandhi</a>.  With two 3rd tones in a row, the first one becomes 2nd tone, in this case 举两.  But this is complicated by the fact that <a href="https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?wdqb=%E4%B8%80%E4%B8%BE" rel="nofollow noreferrer">一举</a> is itself a word.  So maybe we think of 一举两得 as 一举 (yī​jǔ​) followed by 两得 (liǎng​dé​) for the purposes of tone sandhi, in which case there is no tone change for 举.  I'm not sure.</p>
<p><strong>Question</strong>: How is 一举两得 pronounced?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-19T12:23:18.283Z
add a tiny pause between two words and pronounce it as yi4ju**3**-liang3de2, for ju**3** omit the last half part of the third tone (goes down as normal third tone and don't go up). (i'm native speaker, this sounds less strange to me comapred with yi4ju2liang3de2)
imkzh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-19T19:06:31.663Z
@Becky李蓓 Hi, may I ask you what your teacher says? How is your pronunciation wrong? What is the error?
Joe at wearyourchinesename.com
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-19T19:24:31.150Z
@imkzh No offense, but to be native speaker is not enough in this case. You do agree that the variation in pronunciation can be quite wide among native speaker coming from the South or from the North of the Mainland, and even more if they are from Hong Kong or Taiwan. It would be interesting a comparison of these variations, but I guess here OP is asking about its pronunciation in Standard Mandarin.
Joe at wearyourchinesename.com
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-19T22:26:42.990Z
Honestly, I forget precisely what she said.  In class, I read aloud my textbook's 课文 and my teacher mentions where my pronunciation is wrong, and I'm just revising my past mistakes.  (And yes, Standard Mandarin.)
Becky 李蓓
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-20T02:22:14.070Z
@GiuseppeRomanazzi yes i speak Standard Mandarin.
imkzh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-20T04:34:58.473Z
What exactly is the definition of "Standard Mandarin"? Anyone?
Wayne Cheah
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-20T06:35:48.913Z
@WayneCheah Standard Mandarin is the standard language of the People's Republic of China. It is called 普通话, that is "我国国家通用语言，现代汉民族的共同语，以北京语音为标准音，以北方话为基础方言，以典范的现代白话文著作为语法规范。" The standards used in the Mainland and Taiwan, for example, are not the same. Too bad this site is not fully open to users from the Mainland. It can be easily felt that a lot of answers here are Taiwan/Hong Kong biased (it's not a matter of good or bad—just different).
Joe at wearyourchinesename.com
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-20T07:01:46.400Z
@GiuseppeRomanazzi -- Quote:- "The standards used in the Mainland and Taiwan, for example, are not the same" So, who then is speaking "Standard Mandarin"?
Wayne Cheah
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-20T07:19:53.007Z
@WayneCheah Mainland China. Standard Mandarin is supervised today by the Education Ministry of the People's Republic of China. HSK exams, dictionaries, grammar books, schools programs, etc. are all under its control.
Joe at wearyourchinesename.com
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-20T07:28:55.427Z
These comments are way off topic now... we’re meant to talking about pronouncing 一举两得.  If it hasn’t been asked before, perhaps ask “what is Standard Mandarin?” as an actual question and get a more formal answer; it’s not obvious to me precisely how it’s standardized.
Becky 李蓓
<pronunciation><sandhi>
How is 一举两得 pronounced?
# How is 一举两得 pronounced?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-10-19)

My teacher said I pronounce this wrong:

> [CC-CEDICT](https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?wdqb=%E4%B8%80%E4%B8%BE%E4%B8%A4%E5%BE%97): 一举两得 (yī​jǔ​liǎng​dé​) one move, two gains (idiom); two birds with one stone

On paper, the tones are 一(1) 举(3) 两(3) 得(2), but then we need to incorporate [tone sandhi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tone_sandhi#Mandarin_Chinese). With two 3rd tones in a row, the first one becomes 2nd tone, in this case 举两. But this is complicated by the fact that [一举](https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?wdqb=%E4%B8%80%E4%B8%BE) is itself a word. So maybe we think of 一举两得 as 一举 (yī​jǔ​) followed by 两得 (liǎng​dé​) for the purposes of tone sandhi, in which case there is no tone change for 举. I'm not sure.

**Question**: How is 一举两得 pronounced?

**Tags:** pronunciation, sandhi
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: add a tiny pause between two words and pronounce it as yi4ju**3**-liang3de2, for ju**3** omit the last half part of the third tone (goes down as normal third tone and don't go up). (i'm native speaker, this sounds less strange to me comapred with yi4ju2liang3de2)  
> **username_2**: @Becky李蓓 Hi, may I ask you what your teacher says? How is your pronunciation wrong? What is the error?  
> **username_2**: @imkzh No offense, but to be native speaker is not enough in this case. You do agree that the variation in pronunciation can be quite wide among native speaker coming from the South or from the North of the Mainland, and even more if they are from Hong Kong or Taiwan. It would be interesting a comparison of these variations, but I guess here OP is asking about its pronunciation in Standard Mandarin.  
> **username_0**: Honestly, I forget precisely what she said.  In class, I read aloud my textbook's 课文 and my teacher mentions where my pronunciation is wrong, and I'm just revising my past mistakes.  (And yes, Standard Mandarin.)  
> **username_1**: @GiuseppeRomanazzi yes i speak Standard Mandarin.  
> **username_3**: What exactly is the definition of "Standard Mandarin"? Anyone?  
> **username_2**: @WayneCheah Standard Mandarin is the standard language of the People's Republic of China. It is called 普通话, that is "我国国家通用语言，现代汉民族的共同语，以北京语音为标准音，以北方话为基础方言，以典范的现代白话文著作为语法规范。" The standards used in the Mainland and Taiwan, for example, are not the same. Too bad this site is not fully open to users from the Mainland. It can be easily felt that a lot of answers here are Taiwan/Hong Kong biased (it's not a matter of good or bad—just different).  
> **username_3**: @GiuseppeRomanazzi -- Quote:- "The standards used in the Mainland and Taiwan, for example, are not the same" So, who then is speaking "Standard Mandarin"?  
> **username_2**: @WayneCheah Mainland China. Standard Mandarin is supervised today by the Education Ministry of the People's Republic of China. HSK exams, dictionaries, grammar books, schools programs, etc. are all under its control.  
> **username_0**: These comments are way off topic now... we’re meant to talking about pronouncing 一举两得.  If it hasn’t been asked before, perhaps ask “what is Standard Mandarin?” as an actual question and get a more formal answer; it’s not obvious to me precisely how it’s standardized.  

---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_9 on 2021-10-19. Score: 6 | Accepted answer

In actual speech (after tone sandhi), two third tones **never** appear consecutively, whether they are in one word or not.

So it should be pronounced as yi4ju2liang3de2 (tone sandhi also happens for yi1).

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: "two third tones never appear consecutively" I beg to differ. I have given the example (一桶)(柳橙)。My pronunciation of it is 1-3-3-2. I even used a pitch analysis program to analyze my pronunciation and confirmed it's 1-3-3-2. The first 3, however, is only a half 3. It's missing the second half, exactly like what imkzh said above.  
> **username_2**: @fefe 请问，你是北京人吗? If so, can you provide an audio file with your pronunciation of 一举两得 and 一桶柳橙, please?  
> **username_5**: @GiuseppeRomanazzi I affirm "joehua" is correct, I (non-Pekingese) pronounce it either way without a problem. (1332 or 4332, the former is the common way though)  
> **username_2**: @r13 Actually, I heard joehua's pronunciation of 一桶柳橙 (he kindly sent me a recording), and it is without any doubt yìtóngliǔchén. It is understandable that some native speakers cannot recognize their own tones. You got them from childhood when you didn't need to know which was what tone. Might it be the same with you? Can you post an audio file of your pronunciation of 一举两得? Or maybe of the so loved 一桶柳橙 (even if I would prefer the more common 一碗米饭)?  
> **username_5**: @GiuseppeRomanazzi The reason I know is that when in elementary school we have to read the book and write with the accompany 音標 (Zhuyin) and tone by the side of the word or sentence. If you read 一举两得 as 4-2-3-2 then it will sound 一"局"两得 1-2-3-2 or 4-2-3-2. I don't think that's the sound you usually hear.  
> **username_5**: @GiuseppeRomanazzi There are very few Chinese words that the meaning remains the same while the tone changes, "ㄧ" is one of the exceptions, I couldn't even find another at this time. Basically, the Chinese rely a lot on the tone to distinguish the word they hear, and that's why there are so many jokes about conversations between people speaking different dialects and people having a heavy regional accent, as well as the foreigners, mainly, and often, because some people couldn't pronounce one of the words in the sentence with the correct tone.  
> **username_4**: @Giuseppe Romanazzi " it is without any doubt yìtóngliǔchén"??? As I had said before, one cannot beat a pitch analysis program. Didn't I send you the pitch analysis file? The pitch for 桶is clearly going down. The pitch for the 2nd tone is going up. "One cannot beat a pitch analysis program". I told you so last time.  
> **username_2**: Hi @joehua. Suggestion 1: what happened is that the first file you sent me was yìtóngliǔchén and then you told me "I used an online pitch analysis site to analyze my voice of 一桶柳橙。Originally, I was going to play back the sound file I sent you earlier but the result wasn't good. So, I spoke it again". So my first suggestion is: do not alter your natural pronunciation just to make your point.  
> **username_2**: Suggestion 2: the fact is that you yourself told me that the pitch analysis program has some issues. Infact you wrote "What's surprise to me is that when I said 桶 in the 2nd tone, it appears to be the 3rd tone. As can be seen in the second half of the jpg file, both 桶 and 橙 are 3rd tone while in my ears, they are 2nd tone (or, at least,  that's what I was trying to pronounce.)". So my second suggestion is: AI softwares can still be unreliable. Don't trust them blindly.  
> **username_2**: Hi @r13, you are right when you said "if you read 一举两得 as 4-2-3-2 then it will sound 一"局"两得 1-2-3-2 or 4-2-3-2." Yes, that is exactly how it should (and actually does in Standard Mandarin as in the videos in my answer) sound. I see you may not like this rule because you feel that some characters or words are pronounced differently, but the rule stands and we have to comply if we want our speech to be Standard Mandarin. For example, 你好 sounds as 泥好, 五百 as 无百, 老板 as 痨板 , etc.  
> **username_4**: @Giuseppe Romanazi " the pitch analysis program has some issues.". I don't think that's the issue of the pitch analysis program. It must be my pronunciation. This is a simple program. It just records the frequency of the speech. Have you ever tried to use that program, whose web site I have listed below? Again, let me repeat it one more time: you can't beat  a pitch analysis program.  
> **username_8**: I'm not going to comment on your debate, but I've used pitch analysis programs for hundreds of hours and I can definitely tell you than they are not simple and not without problems. If you don't know what you're doing and using the appropriate settings for what you want to investigate, you can easily generate very weird pitch patterns for short, isolated samples.  
> **username_8**: Also, after reading all the other answers and comments, this is the correct one. :) The fact that there are many native speakers who can't explicitly describe how tone sandhi works is not surprising. Being able to speak a language is different from being able to describe it accurately. I know much more about Mandarin phonology than either Swedish phonology, even though my pronunciation is undoubtedly better in my native language. That happens in all languages and there's nothing strange or wrong about it!  

---

### Answer by username_2 on 2021-10-19. Score: 2

In addition to @fefe's answer, which correctly explains this very basic pronunciation rule, I'd suggest to search for videos in Standard Mandarin about 一举两得 and see how its pronunciation is invariably **yìjúliǎngdé**.

---

[Example 1](https://baike.baidu.com/video?lemmaId=1910990&from=wise&ivk_sa=1024630g)  
(His pronunciation is **yìjúliǎngdé**, 4-2-3h-2)

In the video, the man repeats 一举两得 four times. For your convenience, I cut out those small portions of audio. You can listen to the first occurrence clicking on the following link:

[一举两得 in video 1](https://www.wearyourchinesename.com/audio/1tuttoa.mp3)

To make it even easier, I further cut only the portion 举两:

[举两 in video 1](https://www.wearyourchinesename.com/audio/1julianga.mp3)

---

[Example 2](http://baike.baidu.com/l/42wJGbk?bk_share=copy&bk_sharefr=wapbaike)  
(Her pronunciation is **yìjúliǎngdé**, 4-2-3h-2)

In this video, the woman repeats 一举两得 five times. As I did for the previous video, for your convenience I cut out these small portions of audio. You can listen to the first occurrence clicking on the following link:

[一举两得 in video 2](https://www.wearyourchinesename.com/audio/2tuttoa.mp3)

And it should be easier to get it with the help of the following further cut of 举两:

[举两 in video 2](https://www.wearyourchinesename.com/audio/2julianga.mp3)

---

[Example 3](http://baike.baidu.com/l/kyaI1d4s?bk_share=copy&bk_sharefr=wapbaike)  
(Her pronunciation is **yìjúliǎngdé**, 4-2-3h-2)

In this last video, the woman repeats 一举两得 eight times. As with the previous videos, click here for [一举两得 in video 3](https://www.wearyourchinesename.com/audio/3tuttoa.mp3) and here for [举两 in video 3](https://www.wearyourchinesename.com/audio/3julianga.mp3).

## Exercise

---

## 举

The last video is great because she pronounces 举 in three different ways (click on the links and listen to her different pronunciations, then try to repeat):

**举 alone** at 00:16, 上声, third tone:  
[举3](https://www.wearyourchinesename.com/audio/3judasolo.mp3)

**举 in 举动** at 00:18, 半上声, half third tone:  
[举3h](https://www.wearyourchinesename.com/audio/3juinjudong.mp3)

**举 in 一举两得** at 00:08, 阳平, second tone:  
[举2](https://www.wearyourchinesename.com/audio/3juinjuliang.mp3)

Besides, I put all three 举 in succession (third, half-third, and second tone) to make clear the difference. Listen to it here:  
[举3-3h-2](https://www.wearyourchinesename.com/audio/3-3h-2.mp3)

## 举两

Let's listen now to 举两 using the three different pronunciations of 举 (I've used the same pieces of 举 audio of the previous paragraph):

[举两3-3h](https://www.wearyourchinesename.com/audio/33h.mp3) (**don't** repeat it :-)

[举两3h-3h](https://www.wearyourchinesename.com/audio/3h3h.mp3) (**don't** repeat it :-)

Do you want to compare them with the correct one 举两2-3h? Here they are:

[举两3-3h 举两2-3h](https://www.wearyourchinesename.com/audio/33h-23h.mp3)

[举两3h-3h 举两2-3h](https://www.wearyourchinesename.com/audio/3h3h-23h.mp3)

---

## 一举两得

Do you wonder what the pronunciation of 一举两得 would be if 举 were in the third or half-third tone? Click the following links and try **not** to repeat! Note that, again, I've used the same pieces of 举 audio of the paragraph above.

[一举两得 4-3-3h-2](https://www.wearyourchinesename.com/audio/433h2.mp3)

[一举两得 4-3h-3h-2](https://www.wearyourchinesename.com/audio/43h3h2.mp3)

The following is the correct one, that is what she actually says eight times:

[一举两得 4-2-3h-2](https://www.wearyourchinesename.com/audio/3tuttoa.mp3)

Compare it with each of the mispronounced ones:

[一举2两得 一举3两得](https://www.wearyourchinesename.com/audio/423h2-433h2.mp3)

[一举2两得 一举3h两得](https://www.wearyourchinesename.com/audio/423h2-43h3h2.mp3)

Lastly, in the following audio file you can listen to all the three "versions" of 一举两得 in succession (4-2-3h-2, 4-3-3h-2, and 4-3h-3h-2):

[一举2两得 一举3两得 一举3h两得](https://www.wearyourchinesename.com/audio/423h2-433h2-43h3h2.mp3)

P.S.: I would love to add some output from the tool suggested by @joehua. @joehua, can you help?

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: Here is the [website](https://www.speechandhearing.net/laboratory/ampitch/) that provides free pitch analyses. Everyone is welcome to use it to analyze the tones of his/her speech.  
> **username_5**: I opened the first example, both pronounce 一举两得 ad 4-3-3-2, the woman even has the pinyin written on the blackboard. Please make sure you are not mistaken.  
> **username_2**: @r13 In the first video is a man talking, in the second and third are two women. If you pronounce 一举两得 like them, that is fine. What you believe to be 4-3-3-2 actually is 4-2-3h-2. In order to make the difference evident, I will add ASAP some educational exercises in my answer, also including the results from the tool joehua suggested.  
> **username_2**: @r13 About what you see written on the blackboard, it is common practice (unless for educational purpose) not to alter the original pinyin of each singol character. Also dictionaries like 现代汉语词典 don't modify pinyin in case of tone sandhi. For example, 老板 is still written as lǎobǎn (it is not modified according to its pronunciation láobǎn). The pinyin of 不 and 一 is not modified as well.  
> **username_5**: Note that you may often hear people say 癆板 in conservations, but it's not because of the rule you cited. If you ask the person the pronunciation of the word "boss", he will likely reply with the formal pronunciation - 老板 (3-3). Some sounds are very difficult to distinguish for foreign speakers, but often it is easy for the native speakers, same as many Asians couldn't tell the difference between the pronunciation of "N" and "ING", but shouldn't be difficult for you if you are an American. Also note, not all Chinese are capable of pronouncing a word correctly, try 兒 and 日 sounds for example.  
> **username_2**: @r13 Anyway, I forgot to thank you because you took the initiative to address me instead of fefe under fefe's correct answer. I felt honored.   
> **username_5**: :) Do not mean picking, just happened to check the video to see whether I am outdated with the current teaching/trend or not. The Chinese evolve like any other language over time.  
> **username_5**: @dan Chinese has many "破音字" - words with more than one sound, such as "你好/愛好"; "新鮮/朝鮮"; "不要/不行"; "一心/一意"; "段落/丟三落四"; "乾淨/乾坤"...I believe you aware too. However, for teaching purposes, we provide 注音 with tone exactly the way it should be pronounced because there is no "single/standard pronunciation" for 破音字, for which the sound is usage dependent, it changes for certain uses. Also, the dictionary dutifully lists all sounds of a 破音字 with example usages. But admittedly, people still make mistakes (mainly due to schooling) and have been teased/ridiculed for their mispronunciation.  
> **username_6**: @GiuseppeRomanazzi please rest assured that as a native speaker grown up in mainland china with fairly standard 普通话, I do not see any major problem in your comments above. Your sense is good and your theory seems all correct to me. Please do not get distracted by comments by some people who are likely not really native speakers (in 普通话's standard)  
> **username_2**: @ALife Thank you for your kindness.  

---

### Answer by username_7 on 2021-10-20. Score: 1

It's very ***convenient*** to pronounce two consecutive third tone 3-3 as 2-3. A simple example is 你好. I have to make a clear effort to make "nǐ hǎo". But "ní hǎo" comes pretty naturally and fast from my mouth.

This might be ***regional*** where people could make a easier "nǐ hǎo" than "ní hǎo".

Anyway, my point is that if you pronounce 3-3 as 2-3, I wouldn't feel any oddity there.

Have fun!

> **Comments:**
> **username_8**: You do mean "2-3" and not "3-2", I assume? Pronouncing 3-3 as 2-3 is normal, but pronouncing it as 3-2 would be highly unusual. :)  
> **username_7**: @OlleLinge Typo, edited. Thanks!  

---

