HSK Tone Combination Matrix

Practice all tone combinations with HSK 1 vocabulary

WORD SET 1st tone 2nd tone 3rd tone 4th tone Neutral
1st tone
飞机
fēi jī
airplane
中国
zhōng guó
China
中午
zhōng wǔ
noon
天气
tiān qì
weather
东西
dōng xi
thing
2nd tone
明天
míng tiān
tomorrow
同学
tóng xué
classmate
没有
méi yǒu
don't have
前面
qián miàn
front
名字
míng zi
name
3rd tone
老师
lǎo shī
teacher
女儿
nǚ ér
daughter
水果
shuǐ guǒ
fruit
米饭
mǐ fàn
rice
我们
wǒ men
we, us
4th tone
上班
shàng bān
to go to work
去年
qù nián
last year
电脑
diàn nǎo
computer
现在
xiàn zài
now
爸爸
bà ba
dad

"MAMA" (妈) Tone Combination Practice

Practice how different tones change the meaning of "ma"

WORD SET 1st tone (妈 mā) 2nd tone (麻 má) 3rd tone (马 mǎ) 4th tone (骂 mà) Neutral (吗 ma)
1st tone
(妈 mā)
妈妈
mā mā
(tone practice: 1+1)
妈麻
mā má
(tone practice: 1+2)
妈马
mā mǎ
(tone practice: 1+3)
妈骂
mā mà
(tone practice: 1+4)
妈妈
mā ma
✅ mother (1+neutral)
2nd tone
(麻 má)
麻妈
má mā
(tone practice)
麻麻
má má
numb, tingly
麻马
má mǎ
(tone practice)
麻骂
má mà
(tone practice)
麻吗
má ma
(tone practice)
3rd tone
(马 mǎ)
马妈
mǎ mā
(tone practice)
马麻
mǎ má
(tone practice)
马马
mǎ mǎ
(tone practice)
马骂
mǎ mà
(tone practice)
马吗
mǎ ma
(tone practice)
4th tone
(骂 mà)
骂妈
mà mā
(tone practice)
骂麻
mà má
(tone practice)
骂马
mà mǎ
(tone practice)
骂骂
mà mà
(tone practice)
骂吗
mà ma
(tone practice)

The Five "MA" Sounds:

  • 妈 (mā) - 1st tone - mother
  • 麻 (má) - 2nd tone - hemp, numb
  • 马 (mǎ) - 3rd tone - horse
  • 骂 (mà) - 4th tone - to scold
  • 吗 (ma) - neutral tone - question particle

Click the play buttons to hear how tones completely change the meaning!

⚠️ Note: Google TTS uses contextual pronunciation. For example, 妈妈 is a real word (mother: mā ma, 1st+neutral), so TTS may pronounce it naturally rather than as "mā mā" (1+1). Character combinations that aren't real words will follow the written tones more accurately.