Drills for Chinese Tones
Part one: Practise the four tones.
I. Read English monosyllabic words such as “yes” and “no” in four different tones.
(1)
a.
yēs
yés
yĕs
yès
b.
nō
nó
nǒ
nò
II. Read simple Chinese vowels in four different tones individually.
(2)
a..
c.
e.
ā
ē
ū
á
é
ú
ă
ĕ
ŭ
à
è
ù
b.
d.
f.
ō
ī
ǖ
ó
í
ǘ
ǒ
ǐ
ǚ
ò
ì
ǜ
mă
wăi
gŭ
răng
mà
wài
gù
ràng
III. Read Chinese initial-final compounds in four different tones.
(3)
a.
c.
e.
g.
wā
wān
gēn
jiā
wá
wán
gén
jiá
wă
wăn
gĕn
jiă
wà
wàn
gèn
jià
b.
d.
f.
h.
mā
wāi
gū
rāng
má
wái
gú
ráng
IV. Read the sentences with all initial-final compounds in the same tones.
(4)
a.
b.
c.
d.
Part two
Tā gēgē tiāntiān hē kāfēi. (His elder brother drinks coffee everyday.)
Dé guó huárén xué wán páiqiú. (The Chinese in Germany learn to play
volley-ball)
Wǒ xiăng wǒ yĕ dĕi qǐngqǐng lăobăn. (I think that I should treat my
boss to a meal as well.)
Xìe tàitài ài kàn yìdàli diànshì. (Mrs Xie likes to watch Italian TV.)
Distinguishing the second tone from the fourth tone
I. Read the English words as follows:
(5)
a.
One, two, three (count)
B. left, right (words of command)
II. Read Chinese words as follows
(6)
a.
c.
e.
bú qù (not going)
páiduì (to queue up)
yángqì (western style)
b. Chóngzuò (to redo)
d. níuròu (steak)
f. hándài (frozen zone)
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Part three
Tone sandi
I. Read these Chinese bi-syllable words both in the third tone.
(7)
a.
c.
e.
g.
i.
k.
m.
suǒyĭ (therefore)
chănpĭn (products)
wăngwăng (frequently)
běnlĭng (ability)
shŭiguǒ (fruits)
shǒubiăo (watch)
hăoshǒu (skilful)
b.
d.
f.
h.
j.
l.
n
yĭngxiăng ( to influence)
jiănshăo (to reduce)
kěyĭ (can)
yǒuhăo (friendly)
lǔguăn (hotel)
měihăo (wonderful)
měimăn (perfectly satisfactory)
II. Read the Chinese bi-syllable words in the third tone with another tone apart from
the third tone.
3rd+1st
(8)
a.
c.
e.
lăoshī (teacher)
jiăndān (simple)
guănwān (to turn)
b.
d.
f.
chănshēng (to produce)
qǐchū (at first)
gănshāng (sorrowful)
3rd+2nd
(9)
a.
c.
e.
kěnéng (possibly)
jĭuhú (wine pot)
hăorén (good man)
b.
d.
f.
zǔguó (fatherland)
gănqíng (feeling)
gănyú (dare to)
3rd+4th
(10) a.
c.
e.
yĭhòu (afterwards)
zěnyàng (how)
xiăngxiàng (to imagine)
b.
d.
f.
kěshì (however)
wăngshì (the past event)
měimiào (splendid)
Part four
read the following words or phrases containing ‘yi’ 一 （one）and ‘bu’ 不 (not)
(11)
(12)
(13)
(14)
(15)
a.
d.
a.
d.
a.
c.
a.
b.
a.
c.
búhuì (not able to),
b. búqù (not go)
c.búyòng (not in use)
búbiàn (inconvenient)
e. búdàn (not only) f. búcuò (correct)
bùjiǔ (not long)
b. bùhăo (not good) c. bùlái (not come)
bùmáng (not busy)
e. bùtīng (not listen) f. bùxíng (not good)
wànyī (in case)
b. shífēn zhī yī (one tenth)
shǐzhōng rú yī (consistent) d. biăolǐ rú yī (think & act in the same way)
yíhuìir (a little while)
b. yíkuàir (at the same place)
yílù (all the way)
d. yímiàn (one aspect)
yíxīe (some)
b. yíjiāzi(one family)
yídiănr (a little)
d. yítóng (together)
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Part five
Read the following passage.
Wǒ jiào jiékè. Wǒ shì Yīngguó rén. Wǒ jiā yí gòng yǒu liù ge rén: bàba, mā, jiĕjie,
mèimei, dìdi hé wǒ. Wǒ de bàba shì yīsheng, wǒ de māma yě shì yīshēng. Wǒ de
jiĕjie èrshí qī suì, shì xiăoxué lăoshi. Wǒ de mèimei hé dìdi dōu shì zhōngxuéshēng.
Wǒ shì dàxuéshēng. Xiànzài wǒ shì Běijīng dàxué de liúxuéshēng.
(My name is Jack. I am from the UK. There are altogether six people in my family:
my father, my mother, my elder sister, my younger sister, my younger brother and me.
My father is a doctor, and my mother is a doctor too. My elder sister is twenty-seven
years old, and she is a teacher in a primary school. My younger sister and younger
brother are both students in a middle school. I am a student at university. At present I
am a foreign student at the University of Beijing.)
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