I mentioned in a recent post that I'd discovered something a bit strange about the word 不. I'd learned it first in the sentence 不是美国人， 是应国人 (bú shì měiguórén) and in this sentence 不 is pronounced bú. However, I've been reading that 不 is sometimes pronounced bù. Indeed, it's pronounced bù much more commonly than bú.
There is a rule. And it's seemingly exceptionally simple! 不 is pronounced bù (ie. fourth tone) unless it's followed by a word in the fourth tone, in which case it's pronounced in second tone! 是 shì is fourth tone, so that's why 不是 bú shì, and not 不是 bù shì.
And that, it appears, is all there is to it! As I read more about Mandarin there are quite a few things which have surprised me by their simplicity. The pronounciation is still one of the most difficult things I'm finding, as is actually learning the words with no reference to fall back on. However, I keep finding things which seem to be surprisingly straightforward about the language: no articles, in many cases quite English word order, etc. The particles will get me in the end though! Lots to learn there!
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