TonesCombo

Tone Combinations media type="file" key="tone combos.mp3"

Given that most words in Chinese are two characters, that means that when you are speaking, you are normally saying tones in combination. Since there are four tones that can start a word and five that can end it, that means there are 20 two tone combinations. Listen to the combinations below. For additional examples, watch (listen to) the videos below.

Tone Combination Examples
1st Tone 1 1 media type="file" key="1.1.mp3" width="240" height="20" 1 2 media type="file" key="1.2.mp3" width="240" height="20" 1 3 media type="file" key="1.3.mp3" width="240" height="20" 1 4 media type="file" key="1.4.mp3" width="240" height="20" 1 5 media type="file" key="1.5.mp3" width="240" height="20" 2nd Tone 2 1 media type="file" key="2.1.mp3" width="240" height="20" 2 2 media type="file" key="2.2.mp3" width="240" height="20" 2 3 media type="file" key="2.3.mp3" width="240" height="20" 2 4 media type="file" key="3.4.mp3" width="240" height="20" 2 5 media type="file" key="2.5.mp3" width="240" height="20" 3rd Tone 3 1 media type="file" key="3.1.mp3" width="240" height="20" 3 2 media type="file" key="3.2.mp3" width="240" height="20" 3 3 media type="file" key="3.3.mp3" width="240" height="20" 3 4 media type="file" key="3.4.mp3" width="240" height="20" 3 5 media type="file" key="3.5.mp3" width="240" height="20" 4th Tone 4 1 media type="file" key="4.1.mp3" width="240" height="20" 4 2 media type="file" key="4.2.mp3" width="240" height="20" 4 3 media type="file" key="4.3.mp3" width="240" height="20" 4 4 media type="file" key="4.4.mp3" width="240" height="20" 4 5 media type="file" key="4.5.mp3" width="240" height="20"

The following video is a playlist of 21 videos: one introduction followed by native Chinese speakers saying various words in each combination. If you want to listen to third tone followed by second tone, just scroll through and find that video. media type="custom" key="12469180"

Video Reference 高 [gāo] tall 忙 [máng] busy 好 [hǎo] good 累 [lèi] tired 真 [zhēn] really 蛮 [mán] quite 很 [hěn] very 太 [tài] too

真高 真忙 真好 真累 zh ē n g ā o zh ē n máng zh ē n h ǎ o zh ē n lèi

<span style="font-family: 宋体; font-size: 14pt;">蛮高 蛮忙 蛮好 蛮累 mán g <span style="font-family: 宋体; font-size: 14pt;">ā o mán máng mán h <span style="font-family: 宋体; font-size: 14pt;">ǎ o mán lèi

<span style="font-family: 宋体; font-size: 14pt;">很高 很忙 很好 很累 h <span style="font-family: 宋体; font-size: 14pt;">ě n g <span style="font-family: 宋体; font-size: 14pt;">ā o h <span style="font-family: 宋体; font-size: 14pt;">ě n máng h <span style="font-family: 宋体; font-size: 14pt;">ě n h <span style="font-family: 宋体; font-size: 14pt;">ǎ o* h <span style="font-family: 宋体; font-size: 14pt;">ě n lèi


 * Two third tones in a row sounds like second third

<span style="font-family: 宋体; font-size: 14pt;">太高 太忙 太好 太累 tài g <span style="font-family: 宋体; font-size: 14pt;">ā o tài máng tài h <span style="font-family: 宋体; font-size: 14pt;">ǎ o tài lèi

Neutral Tone – can only occur in the second character of a term. Particles are normally neutral tone.

<span style="font-family: 宋体; font-size: 14pt;">高吧 g <span style="font-family: 宋体; font-size: 14pt;">ā oba <span style="font-family: 宋体; font-size: 14pt;">忙吧 mángba <span style="font-family: 宋体; font-size: 14pt;">好吧 h <span style="font-family: 宋体; font-size: 14pt;">ǎ oba <span style="font-family: 宋体; font-size: 14pt;">累吧 lèiba <span style="font-family: 宋体; font-size: 14pt;">高了 g <span style="font-family: 宋体; font-size: 14pt;">ā ole <span style="font-family: 宋体; font-size: 14pt;">忙了 mángle <span style="font-family: 宋体; font-size: 14pt;">好了 h <span style="font-family: 宋体; font-size: 14pt;">ǎ ole <span style="font-family: 宋体; font-size: 14pt;">累了 lèile

All four tones in one term/sentence: <span style="font-family: 宋体;">三十九岁 s<span style="font-family: 宋体;">ā n shí ji<span style="font-family: 宋体;">ǔ suì <span style="font-family: 宋体;">他是好人. T<span style="font-family: 宋体;">ā shì h<span style="font-family: 宋体;">ǎ o rén <span style="font-family: 宋体;">我不太高 W<span style="font-family: 宋体;">ǒ bú tài g<span style="font-family: 宋体;">ā o. media type="file" key="allfourtones.mp3" width="240" height="20"

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