Tone pair chart · 4–4
Fourth + fourth tone words
All 126 HSK 1–4 words with a fourth tone then a fourth tone, each to hear in a female or male voice. Tap a word to hear it, again for slower.
The 126 words
How 4–4 is said
The first fourth tone falls only half way, from high to mid, and the second falls all the way: 睡觉 shuì jiào.
Questions
What are some fourth + fourth tone words?
睡觉 (shuì jiào, to sleep), 电话 (diàn huà, telephone), 电视 (diàn shì, television), 饭店 (fàn diàn, restaurant), 看病 (kàn bìng, to see a doctor), 看见 (kàn jiàn, to see). This page has all 126 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.