Test 1 Review

CHIN 111 - Autumn 2025

Test Format

Oral Test (30%)

Pinyin minimal pairs (without tones)
Pinyin with tones (Four tones and Neutral tone)
Chinese Characters

Expectations:

Read pinyin and characters correctly & without ambiguity
Complete within 2.5 minutes

Written Test (70%)

Dictation for Pinyin
- Circle the correct pinyin
- Fill in the blank with correct initial, final, tone mark
- Write down the pinyin you hear
Chinese Characters

Tones

Tone Mark Placement

Rule: Follow the sequence: a o e i u ü

Special Rule: For -iu, tone mark is placed on u

diū xiū qiú liù

Neutral Tone (轻声)

Example: 小心地滑 vs 小心的滑

xiǎo xīn dì huá xiǎo xīn de huá

Initials - Minimal Pairs

Common Minimal Pairs:

da-ta ni-li shi-xi zi-qi ca-qia lai-lei tui-dui nong-long ke-he sun-xun chuan-quan xian-qian zhen-zeng shang-xiang

z/c/s vs j/q/x

zī - jī cī - qī sī - xī zá - jiá cá - qiá sá - xiá zūn - jūn cūn - qūn sūn - xūn

Finals

Key Distinctions:

in vs ing

yīn - yīng mín - bīng qīn - qíng pīn - mìng

en vs eng, an vs ang

zhēn - zhèng rèn - zhèng zēng - zōng dōng - zhòng

un vs ün, uan vs üan

zūn - jūn cūn - qūn sūn - xūn zuān - juān cuān - quān suān - xuān

ou vs iu

zhōu - xiū jiǔ - zhōu qiū - shōu

Chinese Characters

Basic Radicals (35 characters)

Character Sheet 1-3:

日

月

水

火

山

人

田

刀

木

竹

大

小

女

子

手

目

口

心

足

贝

马

隹

中

艮

青

古

巴

正

长

门

Character Sheet 4B - Radicals:

金 (钅) jīn zì páng 金字旁

言 (讠) yán zì páng 言字旁

宝 (宀) bǎo gài tóu 宝盖头

足 (⻊) zú zì páng 足字旁

竹 (⺮) zhú zì tóu 竹字头

丝 (纟) jiǎo sī páng 绞丝旁

食 (饣) shí zì páng 食字旁

禾 hé zì páng 禾字旁

犬 (犭) fǎn quǎn páng 反犬旁

走 (辶) zǒu zhī páng 走之旁

Phonetic Symbols

Characters that share phonetic components (study these groups together):

妈推谁淮 (马 tuī shuí huái)

钟种仲肿 (zhōng zhǒng zhòng zhǒng)

跟根狠恨 (gēn gēn hěn hèn)

请清情晴 (qǐng qīng qíng qíng)

Practice Test 1 Content Practice Pinyin Tones