Now you know what the four tones are and their associated english sounds. The way to practice
mandarin chinese tones the best way is to practice the tones in combination instead
of individually. So let me show you a graph that’s really really helpful for you.
Look at this pinyin tone pairs table. So basically, most chinese words are two syllable words
and they come from one of these combinations. And we call these combinations pairs. In chinese
words, for each of these combinations are the sample words that I want you to master,
which I will show you in this table. So what I mean by mastering is that you need to make
sure you pronounce them perfectly with one hundred percent right tones. Don’t worry,
we are going through all these 20 words one by one. Ok, so let me switch back , just take
a look at this chart and table.
Ok, great. So you saw the chart right? Dont worry about it, and by the end of the hangout
I am gonna list it in the description part of the event page, so you can actually go
and download the chart. So the reason why mastering these 20 essential words are extremely
important is because, in the future when you learn any new chinese words, this foundation
will actually give you a quick association or link in between what the new word is and what you
are already familiar with. And thats the most effective way to learn chinese, because when
you learn another word that is with a second or third tone combination, you can just say
‘oh, thats easy. Its just one of the three two combination tone that I already knew.
I already know what the tones are like for this specific combination.’ Makes sense?
Ok, lets wait no more and dive into these 20 essential words. I want you to master them
so well. If other words dont matter, these words matter. So lets do it.
First one is the one-one combination. Think about one-one is like what? Its like jīn
tiān, maybe maybe right? Just give me one second I need to explain something real quick
to you. Oh by the way, so how can we tell what kind of tones these are? So there some
thing called tone marks, and what you see here is tone mark, that represents what tone
it is. And I will explain that to you one by one.
So lets first talk about the first tone, so one-one combination sound like maybe right?
Today is jīn tiān(repeated 4 times). The one-two combination which is maybe-what?!. And then
the sample word is china, zhōng guó, maybe what?!. (repeated 3 times). So you see for
the second tone, the tone mark is consistent with the second tone, which is a rising tone.
And the first tone is just like a flat tone, which is consistent with the first tone remember?
So you see the tone marks are consistent with the tones. Let’s move on to the third combo.
one-three combo, first tone and the third tone. Remember the first tone is maybe right?
And the third tone is ‘uhhh’, really low. ‘What did you have for lunch yesterday?
uhh’. Right? Third tone. So the combo would be, ice water, oh my god you gotta learn this.
In china no matter where you go, no matter if its summer or winter, they just bring you a cup
of hot water all the time right? So this is an essential word for you, if you want ice
water. So ice water is bīng shuǐ, so the tone mark here is the third tone right? You
say ‘uh why does it look like this?' Because the third tone is actually a low flat tone.
So the third tone is a very unique one because actually when third tone is pronounced by
itself, its a bouncing tone. But dont worry that, for now just remember the third tone
looks likes a ‘v’ sign and a flat tone. bīng shuǐ, ‘maybe uh’ (repeated 3 times). Remember this word, bīng shuǐ
Alright, one-four combination. (maybe no) So when you apply that tone to this ‘to
know’ is zhī dào (repeated twice). So the fourth tone mark is consistent as the
fourth tone as well, you see this is like a falling tone. And for the fourth tone, it
is like a falling tone as well. Alright, zhī dào (maybe no). So now is the one plus five.
What does that mean? Let me just show you that graphic real quick. You see the one-five
here, five is actually a neutral tone. A tone that does not have a tone mark, we call it
a toneless tone. Let me switch back and I will explain what that means. For any neutral
tone, just remember two things, neutral tone is usually in the middle of your voice range.
This is the highest, this is the lowest, this is sort of in the middle. In the middle, roughly. And then its usually
very short and quick and sweet. If other words like characters are two beats, and then the
toneless tone or the tone without a mark is basically just one beat. It is short and sweet.
So a one-five combination will sound like ‘maybe ah’, and its very quick. How do
you say ‘really’? zhēn de ‘maybe ah’. (repeated 3 times). Remember this word, zhēn
de I’m not lying to you. Really, zhēn de, fēi cháng hǎo.
Alright, the two-one combination. The two-one combination is ‘what?! may’ right? And
then it applies to this very common word, tomorrow. ‘what?! may’ míng tiān. (repeated
3 times). two-two combination would be what? ‘what?! what?!’ right? And that would
apply to this word, next year, míng nián. fēi cháng hǎo, very good. Next one, the
two-three combination. Two is second tone, ‘what?!’ and third is ‘uh’. ‘what?!
uh’ (repeated 3 times). So beer, oh my gosh. Go to the restaurant and you will have the
best chinese pronunciation in the restaurant. Even better than chinese people when you say
beer. You say pí jiǔ, ‘what?! uh’ (repeated 3 times). Alright, two-four combination. What is that? ‘what?!
no’ (repeated twice). Something is very easy, ezpz. róng yì (repeated 3 times),like ‘what?! no’. Alright the two-five combination,
which is the neutral tone. Did I mention to you that in mandarin there are four tones and
the fifth is neutral tone, a toneless tone or a tone that does not have a tone mark.
I just want to illustrate that one more time. Two things you need to remember for the neutral
tone, its usually in the middle of the voice range and usually short, sweet and quick.
So that would be ‘what?! ah’ (repeated 3 times). Alright, and what is shén me (repeated
4 times).
Next one, three-one combination. Third tone is ‘what did you have for lunch yesterday,
uh’, first tone is ‘maybe’, you go from the lowest to the highest of your voice range.
‘uh may’, ‘uh may’. And to like, we say that all the time right? xǐ huān (repeated
3 times), so it sounds like ‘ah hā’, so remember three-one combination is ‘ah
hā’, xǐ huān, xǐ huān. Next one, three-two combination, remember the low flat tone that
sounds like ‘uh’. You know whenever you are speaking the third tone, its almost like
you are feeling uncomfortable here, because that is not something you would normally speak all the time.
You really have to go to the bottom of your throat and voice and speak that. ‘uh what?!’ (repeated
3 times). To get up from bed, you know when somebody is being a lazy boy in the morning, hey get up
is qǐ chuáng (repeated 4 times). Thats the three-two combination. Here is the tricky
part, three-three combination, keep this in mind, three-three combination is an unique
one. And actually we had a specific google hangout on chinese tone rule changing in the
past, and I need you to dig out that google hangout on youtube and watch that lesson,
because I am not going into details here. But basically the rule is this, when two-third
tones are together, the first third tone becomes the second tone. As simple as that, so basically
any three-three combination just sounds like any two-three combination. Makes sense? So
lets just practice the two-three combination here. So that would be two-three, that is
‘what uh’. Do you know the very first word you learn in mandarin is what? nǐ hǎo,
hello, right? Today is the day you gonna speak this word perfectly. nǐ hǎo, second tone,
‘what uh’.nǐ hǎo (repeated twice). remember, three-three is nǐ hǎo. Three-four combination,
three is the lowest part ‘uh’ and four is ‘no’, ‘uh no’ (repeated 3 times).
We are having fun arent we? Oh, do you like fried rice? I do. So that would be chǎo fàn
(repeated three-times), ‘uh no’. chǎo fàn, chǎo fàn. Three-five combination,
remember the neutral tone has two things. short and sweet, in the middle part of your
voice range. So you start really low and thats in the middle, basically you are going up
a little. ‘uh ah’ (repeated 3 times). So this word is the sample word, my or mine,
wǒ de (repeated 3 times).
Ok, four-one combination. What is the fourth tone remember? emphatic, ‘no’ ‘sure’
‘yea’, just remember ‘no’ alright? four-one combination, ‘no maybe’ ‘no
may’ (repeated 3 times). What kind of gibberish I’m talking about right? So the sample word
is bread, miàn bāo (repeated 3 times). The four-two combination, ‘no what?!’ (repeated
3 times). The question or this word can also mean problem. wèn tí (repeated 3 times).
‘No what?!’. fēi cháng hǎo. Alright, four-three combination, ‘no uh’ (repeated
twice). Does this sound like someone’s name, Noah? And here is zhè lǐ, ‘no uh’ (repeated
3 times). Four-four combination, do you know which word that is the four-four combination?
Do you want me to say zài jiàn, goodbye. Thats four-four combination, is like when
you say ‘no no’ right? zài jiàn, its not zāi jiàn, its not zǎi jiàn. It is
zài jiàn. Now you can say hello and goodbye perfectly, and also ice water and what else, oh pí jiǔ beer right?
Ok, zǎi jiàn, ‘no no’. Very last one, I know you are having fun, you dont wanna
stop. But we gotta stop somewhere. The four-five combination, the fifth remember? Just really
quick, I know you probably think I am nagging you. Its short and sweet and middle part of
your voice range. So that would be ‘no ah’, so this is different than Noah. ‘no ah’
go to the middle part. So that would be, remember which word that can match this tone? Thank
you, xiè xie (repeated 3 times). Remember this word and repeat after me, xiè xie, perfect.
Wonderful wonderful , so now you know those are the mandarin chinese tone pairs. They
are very very important, they are like the building blocks for you to learn chinese tones,
so I highly suggest you memorize all these 20 words and in the description part, not
only I’m gonna provide you what you see on the screen earlier, which is the tone pair
tables with all these 20 essential words, but also I have made a little recording for
you just to read those 20 words over and over again. So you can listen to them and practice.
So what I suggest if you just barely started learning mandarin, what I suggest you should
really find a native speaker, a tutor, a friend, whoever right? At least at the beginning,
help you master these 20 words, make sure you absolutely pronounce them one hundred
percent correctly, and then you can move on to any other words and you will be very confident
that you are speaking the right tones. Ok, so this is what we talk about tone pairs.