Tone pair 1-4

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This page will cover some examples of the 1-4 tone pair, which Sinosplice rates as a "3" on a difficulty rating of 1-7 (easiest to hardest).

Practice this tone pair using the words below. Once you can say them reliable in isolation (as just a tone pair), try putting them in longer sentences while keeping the tones accurate.

1-4 Tone Pair Diagram

It helps many learners to see the two tones side by side.

Tone Pair 1-4 cropped.png

1-4 Tone Pair Words (A2)

If you're just getting started with tone pairs, these simple two-syllable words and phrases are a good place to start. If these are too easy, you may want to move onto the longer (B1) phrases below.

Audio Chinese Pinyin English
工作 gōngzuò work, job; to work
开会 kāihuì to have a meeting
需要 xūyào to need
帮助 bāngzhù to help
方便 fāngbiàn convenient

Source: AllSet Learning's "Tone Pair" Pronunciation Pack (used with permission)

1-4 Tone Pair Phrases (B1)

Audio Chinese Pinyin English
不开会 bù kāihuì to not have a meeting
去工作 qù gōngzuò to go work
不需要开会 bù xūyào kāihuì to not need to have a meeting
需要帮助 xūyào bāngzhù to need help
希望工作 xīwàng gōngzuò to hope to work

Source: AllSet Learning's "Tone Pair" Pronunciation Pack (used with permission)

1-4 Tone Pair Combos

Audio Chinese Pinyin English
(coming) 真快 zhēn kuài really fast
(coming) 真大 zhēn dà really big
(coming) 真贵 zhēn guì really expensive
(coming) 真热 zhēn rè really hot
(coming) 真饿 zhēn è really hungry

Source: Sinosplice's Mandarin Chinese Tone Pair Drills (used with permission)

Sources and further reading

Videos

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