Mandarin Tone & Tone-Pair Trainer
Practise Mandarin tones with real Inklingo story recordings. Explore tone pairs, take a listening quiz, review mistakes and hear each word in its original context.
Explore a tone pattern and replay the recording.
Try the quiz without seeing the word.
Review missed patterns in their source stories.
1 + 2 · 中国
中国 · zhōng guó · China
Dictionary pattern: 1 + 2. In connected speech, third tones often stay low instead of making a full dip and rise.
Listen in the original story
1972年，中国和美国的关系很紧张。两国没有外交关系，人民也不能自由来往。这个故事发生在北京一个安静的体育馆里。
These are timestamped excerpts from existing Inklingo narration, not isolated laboratory recordings. Neutral tone is written 0 here. The quiz asks for dictionary categories; sandhi and surrounding words affect what you hear. No microphone or speech grading is used.
Make sense of what you’re practicing
Why practise tones in pairs?
Tone contours interact when words are spoken together. A two-syllable word lets you hear that transition rather than treating every tone as an isolated shape. Four full first-syllable tones and five second-syllable choices, including neutral, form twenty useful practice patterns.
Dictionary tones versus what you hear
Two consecutive third tones normally change so the first sounds rising. The dictionary spelling still uses two third-tone marks. Third tones before other full tones often stay low. This quiz asks for underlying dictionary categories and explains the difference after each answer.
Neutral tone is not a fixed fifth pitch
A neutral syllable is short and unstressed, with pitch influenced by its surroundings. It is labeled 0 in this trainer. Words such as 妈妈 and 爸爸 give useful examples, although emphasis and regional speech can alter the realization.
Practice with real context
Every clip comes from existing Inklingo narration with word timestamps checked against the written paragraph. Open the original context after a question to hear the full phrase. Scores cover this small practice set, not your speaking ability or total tone mastery.