2.5 Why “Nǐ Hǎo” Isn’t Really “Nǐ Hǎo

Tone sandhi = natural tone change in speech.

The most common rule in Mandarin,

When two 3rd tones appear together → the first one changes to 2nd tone in pronunciation.

For example:

你好 (nǐ hǎo → ní hǎo)

很好 (hěn hǎo → hén hǎo)

水果 (shuǐ guǒ → shuí guǒ)

手表 (shǒu biǎo → shóu biǎo)

子女 (zǐ nǚ → zínǚ)

Don’t overthink it — let it flow naturally. With practice and listening to native speakers, this change will become automatic