Tone pair chart · 2–2
Second + second tone words
All 46 HSK 1–4 words with a second tone then a second tone, each to hear in a female or male voice. Tap a word to hear it, again for slower.
The 46 words
How 2–2 is said
Both syllables keep the second tone’s shape: each rises from mid to high, as in 学习 xué xí.
Questions
What are some second + second tone words?
学习 (xué xí, to learn), 同学 (tóng xué, classmate), 红茶 (hóng chá, black tea), 篮球 (lán qiú, basketball), 男孩 (nán hái, boy), 常常 (cháng cháng, often). This page has all 46 on the HSK 1 to 4 lists that we have checked recordings of.
How many tone pairs are there in Mandarin?
Twenty. Each of the four tones can be followed by any of the four, which makes 16, and each can be followed by the neutral tone, which makes 4 more.
Practise the pairs
Pinyin test: one word for each of the 20 pairs, one score. Tone practice: say a word and see your tones over a native speaker’s. Pinyin trainer: more of the pairs you miss until they stick.
Voices by ElevenLabs, the same two as the app’s word cards.