How to remember 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th Tone

How do you remember that the accent above a Pinyin letter is a 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th tone?

The best way to remember this is by using mnemonics as follows:

1st Tone

The first tone is a long flat symbol.

Imagine pushing a giant number 1 over. It would look like a flat horizontal accent then.

2nd Tone

Imagine staring at a giant number 2. If you look carefully, this has the body of the accent in it.

3rd Tone

Imagine pushing a big number 3 over. The first 'U' that it makes looks like the accent.

4th Tone

Imagine resting a ruler across the number 4. This would come close to looking like the 4th tone accent.

Summary