啊 as an interjection at the start of a sentence: ā, á, ǎ, à
【四22】叹词 / interjections
Tone colorsā tone 1á tone 2ǎ tone 3à tone 4a neutral
At the start of a sentence 啊 is an interjection: a short cry on its own, followed by a comma, an exclamation mark or a question mark. Do not confuse it with the sentence-final particle 啊 (好啊!, hsk2-g29), which softens or strengthens the tone.
Its tone follows the feeling, and it changes the meaning:
- ā (1st tone): admiration, wonder. 啊！太美了！
- á (2nd tone): asking someone to repeat, doubt. 啊？你说什么？
- ǎ (3rd tone): puzzled surprise. 啊，你怎么在这里？
- à (4th tone): understanding, remembering, realising you forgot something. 啊，我明白了。
The character never changes (always 啊): it is the intonation in speech, and the punctuation in writing, that guide you. Dictionaries mark all four tones.
Examples
啊！这里的风景太美了！
Ā! Zhèlǐ de fēngjǐng tài měi le!Ah! What wonderful scenery!
啊？你说什么？我没听清楚。
Á? Nǐ shuō shénme? Wǒ méi tīng qīngchu.What? What did you say? I didn't catch it.
啊，你怎么在这里？
Ǎ, nǐ zěnme zài zhèlǐ?Huh, what are you doing here?
啊，我明白了，原来你是这个意思。
À, wǒ míngbai le, yuánlái nǐ shì zhège yìsi.Oh, I see: so that's what you meant.
啊，我想起来了，今天是妈妈的生日。
À, wǒ xiǎng qǐlai le, jīntiān shì māma de shēngrì.Oh, now I remember: it's Mum's birthday today.
啊？你不去啊？
Á? Nǐ bú qù a?What? You're not going?
Common mistakes
✗ 我明白了，啊。 → ✓ 啊，我明白了。(at the end of a sentence 啊 would be the particle, a different word).
✗ 啊你说什么 → ✓ 啊？你说什么？(the interjection is always set off by a comma, ! or ?).
✗ reading 啊 in the neutral tone at the start of a sentence → ✓ choose ā / á / ǎ / à from the feeling (admiration, doubt, surprise, understanding).