Tone Lesson 4 – The Fourth Tone with Tone Pairs Drills
CHINESE FOURTH TONE
Chinese Fourth Tone is called 四声(sì shēng) in Chinese, literally meaning “the fourth sound”. In this lesson, we will be practicing the Mandarin Pinyin Fourth Tone with Tone Pairs and sentences.
How to Pronounce the Chinese Fourth Tone
The Mandarin Pinyin Fourth Tone starts high, and then immediately goes down. To pronounce it, we need to allow our pitch to drop quickly. That is why the Chinese Fourth Tone is also known as "the High Falling Tone". Don't be afraid that it might sound "angry" this way, it is just how it is supposed to be.
Practice Mandarin Pinyin Fourth Tone with Tone Pairs and Sentences
FOURTH TONE + FIRST TONE
| TONE PAIRS | ||
|---|---|---|
| PĪNYĪN | 汉字 | ENGLISH |
| qì chē | 汽车 | car |
| chàng gē | 唱歌 | to sing |
| dà jiā | 大家 | everyone |
| shàng bān | 上班 | to go to work |
| xìn xīn | 信心 | confidence |
| SENTENCE | ||
| dà jiā zuò qì chē shàng bān | ||
| 大家坐汽车上班。 | ||
| Everyone takes the car to go to work. | ||
FOURTH TONE + SECOND TONE
| TONE PAIRS | ||
|---|---|---|
| PĪNYĪN | 汉字 | ENGLISH |
| qù nián | 去年 | last year |
| wèn tí | 问题 | question; problem |
| tè bié | 特别 | special; especially |
| liàn xí | 练习 | to practice |
| shù xué | 数学 | math |
| SENTENCE | ||
| liàn xí shù xué wèn tí | ||
| 练习数学问题。 | ||
| Practice math questions. | ||
FOURTH TONE + THIRD TONE
| TONE PAIRS | ||
|---|---|---|
| PĪNYĪN | 汉字 | ENGLISH |
| diàn nǎo | 电脑 | computer |
| hàn yǔ | 汉语 | the Chinese language |
| diàn yǐng | 电影 | movie |
| shàng wǔ | 上午 | morning |
| xià yǔ | 下雨 | to rain |
| SENTENCE | ||
| yòng diàn nǎo kàn diàn yǐng | ||
| 用电脑看电影。 | ||
| To watch a movie on the computer. | ||
Some of the sentences feel like tongue twisters, but it is really fun.
Recognizing the tones at the end is very difficult for me…practice time it is!
Hey folks, I have a question. In the quiz for this lesson there is this pair: “qián miàn”. When Lili pronounces it, she puts stress on “a” in “qián” but on “i” in “miàn”. What are the rules for stress position here?
Hi Lili: in this lesson you use hàn yǔ (Chinese language) as an example. Please can you tell me what is the difference between hàn yǔ and zhōng wén? Thanks!
Hànyǔ 汉语 and Zhōngwén 中文 both mean “the Chinese language”. 中文 emphasizes a little more on the written language. But you can say “说中文 shuō Zhōngwén to speak Chinese” as well.
From my understanding, 汉语 is language of the Han Chinese. Han Chinese is the largest ethnic group in China — more than 90% of the population. 中文 is language/literary composition of “Middle-Country” China 🙂 Just my 2-cent 🙂 🙂