Mandarin Chinese Tone Pair Drills – Traditional

Use the following charts with the method previously described. This page is also available in simplified characters. Beginners may find the Pinyin Charts more appropriate. The downloadable version includes English translations.

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One-Character Adjectives

Tone Adjectives
1
新, 黑, 幹, 輕,
2
忙, 長, 強, 紅,

3
好, 小, 早, 晚, 美, 冷,

4
大, 貴, 快, 慢, 壞, 熱,

Two-Character Adjectives

Tone Adjectives Tone Adjectives
1, 1
傷心, 糟糕
3, 1
好吃, 好聽, 緊張

1, 2
突然
3, 2
有名, 好玩, 狡猾
1, 3
危險, 辛苦
3, 3
好懂, 保守

1, 4
高興, 方便, 安靜
3, 4
好看, 可愛, 滿意
1, 0
聰明, 舒服, 清楚

3, 0
暖和

2, 1
年輕, 難聽, 難說
4, 1
用功, 自私
2, 2
流行, 無聊

4, 2
特別, 好奇, 熱情

2, 3
難懂, 明顯
4, 3
性感
2, 4
不錯, 容易, 合适

4, 4
重要, 快樂
2, 0
便宜, 麻煩
4, 0
漂亮, 厲害, 客氣

One-Character Modifiers

Tone Modifiers
1
2
蠻, (不),* (很),* (挺)*

3
很,
4
不,

* 不 (bu) becomes second tone when it precedes a fourth tone. 很 (hen) and 挺 (ting) both become second tone when they precede a third tone. See Mandarin Tone Changes for complete information.

Two-Character Modifiers

Tone Modifier Tone Modifier
1, 2
非常
3, 4
比較
2, 4
不太
4, 2
特別

Pronouns

Tone Singular Pronouns Tone Plural Pronouns
1
他, 她,
1, 0
他們, 她們, 它們
3
我,
3, 0
我們, 你們