Tone-pair worksheet: instructions and sources
Download the 4 × 5 grid or the one-pair-per-row practice list. Both files use UTF-8 with BOM for Chinese and Pinyin. Open or import as UTF-8 in your spreadsheet app; enable text wrapping to see the grid's multiline cells. CSV preserves text, not colours or cell sizes.
Rows give the first syllable's dictionary tone. Columns give the second syllable's dictionary tone: 1, 2, 3, 4, or neutral (0). Each of the twenty cells has one real word, Pinyin and an English meaning. The 3+3 cell shows 你好 nǐ hǎo → ní hǎo (2+3) in connected speech. The written third-tone marks remain the dictionary spelling. A final third tone does not always require a full rising tail.
Work across a row, then down a column. Keep neutral syllables light. The list includes pronunciation notes; it is not an audio assessment or a claim that all contexts have identical pitch shapes.
Word selection, grid and practice prompts: TaoTao Mandarin. Pinyin and glosses were checked against CC-CEDICT, distributed by MDBG, accessed 2026-10-19. Glosses are adapted from that dictionary. These two worksheet CSVs and this worksheet explanation are offered under CC BY-SA 4.0. Credit CC-CEDICT contributors and TaoTao Mandarin, identify changes, and retain this licence when sharing adaptations. This licence statement does not apply to the separately attributed Reddit quotations in the article.