#3. Does “不不” only has one tone?

不不 means no in mandarin, so its a really really useful word that’s used

every day. And other than 不不’s original tone, it has a tone change in
certain situations.

• 不不’s Original Tone

不不 originally has the 4th tone and is normally pronounced as its original
tone.

For example:

The boss is saying to his employee who is late to work:

上班不不(bù)可以迟到

The employee responds:

对不不(bu)起 (Pay attention to the “不不” in this word, it has a neutral tone. )

So, the 4th tone is 不不’s original tone and the most commonly used one.

Learn The Tone Changes For Other Characters On mandarhythm.com

• 不不’s Tone Change

不不 only has one tone change, that’s when a 4th tone character follows
it，then 不不 has the 2nd tone.

There is one more thing you need to know:

The tone marks in pinyin only show the original tone of the character.
That means the tone marks are always the same and the tone change
and the actual pronunciation of the word doesn’t show.

Learn The Tone Changes For Other Characters On mandarhythm.com