Tone pair chart · 2–4
Second + fourth tone words
All 81 HSK 1–4 words with a second tone then a fourth tone, each to hear in a female or male voice. Tap a word to hear it, again for slower.
The 81 words
How 2–4 is said
Each tone keeps its own shape: the first syllable rises from mid to high, then the second falls from high to low, as in 颜色 yán sè.
Questions
What are some second + fourth tone words?
颜色 (yán sè, color), 没事 (méi shì, it doesn't matter), 还是 (hái shì, or), 门票 (mén piào, admission ticket), 前面 (qián miàn, in front), 常见 (cháng jiàn, common). This page has all 81 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.