Tone pair chart · 4–2

Fourth + second tone words

All 77 HSK 1–4 words with a fourth tone then a second tone, each to hear in a female or male voice. Tap a word to hear it, again for slower.

Voice

How 4–2 is said

Each tone keeps its own shape: the first syllable falls from high to low, then the second rises from mid to high, as in 问题 wèn tí.

Questions

What are some fourth + second tone words?

问题 (wèn tí, problem), 大学 (dà xué, university), 面条 (miàn tiáo, noodles), 上学 (shàng xué, to go to school), 过年 (guò nián, to celebrate the New Year), 外国 (wài guó, foreign country). This page has all 77 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.

问题

wèn tí

problem

Tap a word to hear it, again for slower.

Say it