Tone pair 1-2

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If you're already familiar with tone pairs, then you might be ready for some specific examples. This page will cover some examples of the 1-1 tone pair, which Sinosplice rates as a "1" on a difficulty rating of 1-7 (easiest to hardest).

This one's pretty easy! You just stay high and level, almost robot-like. 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.

1-1 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
今天 jīntiān today
公司 gōngsī company
星期 xīngqī week
咖啡 kāfēi coffee
香蕉 xiāngjiāo banana

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

1-1 Tone Pair Phrases (B1)

Audio Chinese Pinyin English
星期天 xīngqītiān Sunday
吃 香蕉 chī xiāngjiāo to eat a banana
喝 咖啡 hē kāfēi to drink coffee
去 公司 qù gōngsī to go to the office
很 开心 hěn kāixīn very happy

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

1-1 Tone Pair Combos

Audio Chinese Pinyin English
真新 zhēn xīn really new
真黑 zhēn hēi really black, really dark
真干 zhēn gān really dry
真轻 zhēn qīng really light
真酸 zhēn suān really sour

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

Sources and further reading

Videos

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