Tone pair 1-3

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

This one's a little difficult. First character is flat and high, when going into the second character start low then go lower before rising to a high tone. 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.

1-3 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
play 多少 duōshǎo how much, how many
play 多久 duōjiǔ how long
play 开始 kāishǐ to start
play 机场 jīchǎng airport
play 方法 fāngfǎ method

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

1-3 Tone Pair Phrases (B1)

Audio Chinese Pinyin English
想喝水 xiǎng hē shuǐ would like to drink water
想喝酒 xiǎng hē jiǔ would like to drink alcohol
好方法 hǎo fāngfǎ a good way (of doing something)
去机场 qù jīchǎng to go to the airport
身体好 shēntǐ hǎo to be in good health

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

1-3 Tone Pair Combos

Audio Chinese Pinyin English
play 真早 zhēn zǎo really early
play 真美 zhēn měi really beautiful
play 真冷 zhēn lěng really cold
play 真晚 zhēn wǎn really late
play 真短 zhēn duǎn really short

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

Sources and further reading

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