Pinyin

Chinese Pinyin Guide and Tools

Pinyin is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin. It writes Chinese syllables with Latin letters and marks the four tones, so learners and input methods can represent pronunciation without relying only on characters.

This site can add Pinyin to Chinese text and help you type tone marks. The Pinyin Writer turns tone numbers such as hao3 into hǎo.

What these tools do

Pinyin tools show pronunciation. They do not convert Simplified characters to Traditional characters. If you need both, convert the characters first, then generate Pinyin.

Pinyin is also not a translation. zhong1 guo2 tells you how 中国 / 中國 is said. It does not explain the word to someone who does not read Chinese.

Start with What is Pinyin? or open the Chinese to Pinyin converter.

What Is Pinyin? A Beginner's Guide

A short introduction to Hanyu Pinyin, syllables, initials, finals and why tone marks matter.

How to Add Pinyin to Chinese Text

Add Pinyin romanization to Chinese characters for study notes, teaching materials and pronunciation checks.

Pinyin Tone Marks vs Tone Numbers

The difference between Pinyin tone marks (mā) and tone numbers (ma1), and when to use each.

How to Type Pinyin Tone Marks on Windows, Mac, Android and iPhone

Practical ways to type Pinyin tone marks, including the on-site Pinyin Writer that accepts tone numbers.

Understanding the Four Mandarin Tones

A plain-language explanation of Mandarin's four tones and the neutral tone, with Pinyin examples.