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Pinyin

If you want to speak Chinese in the native way, the stress of multiple syllables is very important. Today you will learn how to deal with the stress.

Stress in Disyllabic words

In most cases the stress pattern is “medium-stressed +stressed” structure For example 老师 lǎoshī 学校 xuéxiào ,the second syllable is stressed and lasts longer than the first one.

冰箱(bīngxiāng) 帮忙(bāngmáng)
打扰(dǎrǎo) 高兴(gāoxìng)
游泳(yóuyǒng) 可能(kěnéng)
开始(kāishǐ) 考试(kǎoshì)

The other pattern is “stressed+ light” structure. For example 学生 xuésheng 名字 míngzi It is not that common. The first syllable is stressed and long, and the second one is light and short.

东西(dōngxi) 窗户(chuānghu)
罗卜(luóbo) 时候(shíhou)
枕头(zhěntou) 你们(nǐmen)
告诉(gàosu) 故事(gùshi)
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HSK Standard Course Level 2: 2.1

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