Mandarin has four main tones plus a neutral tone. In print, the usual academic form puts a mark on the vowel: mā, má, mǎ, mà. In chat, dictionaries, programming, and some keyboards, people write ma1, ma2, ma3, ma4. Neutral tone is often ma5 or unmarked.
Both spellings name the same four contours. They differ in what a computer and a printer can be trusted to keep.
When marks are better
Teaching materials, linguistics papers, slide titles, and anything that should look like standard Hanyu Pinyin use marks. A learner who only ever sees ma3 will not recognize mǎ in a textbook. A caption under a photo looks finished with marks and unfinished with digits.
Marks also prevent a kind of ambiguity that numbers create in running text. hao3de is readable if you already know the convention. hǎo de is readable to anyone who knows Pinyin.
The cost is technical. You need a font that has ā á ǎ à ē é ě è ī í ǐ ì ō ó ǒ ò ū ú ǔ ù and ü with the same marks. You need a way to type them, or a generator. You need copy-paste paths that do not strip combining characters.
When numbers are better
ASCII-only forms, source code, filenames, some email systems, and quick notes. Numbers survive when a font box would have eaten ǎ. They are also faster to type on a US keyboard: you already have 1 2 3 4.
Dictionary apps often accept both. Programmers like numbers because they are easy to parse. The Pinyin Writer is built for that workflow: type ma3 and get mǎ.
A house style should pick one form for a given document type. Mixing hao3 and hǎo in the same worksheet looks like two people finished the file.
Neutral tone
The fifth "tone" is weaker. Different teachers mark it differently: no mark, a dot, or a 5. If a tool asks for 5, that is the convention this writer documents in its hint text. Citation forms in dictionaries often leave the syllable unmarked.
Do not invent a sixth number unless your team already has a private scheme. Interoperability dies when 6 means something else in the next tool.
How this site splits the job
- Characters in, marked Pinyin out: Chinese to Pinyin
- Numbers in, marks out: Pinyin Writer
- How to type marks without the Writer: type tone marks
- What the contours are: the four tones
Neither tool converts Simplified characters to Traditional characters. If you need both layers, convert the characters first.
Frequently asked questions
Is ma1 exactly the same as mā? As a tone label, yes. As published spelling, mā is the standard printed form.
Why does the third-tone mark look like a little v? That is a caron (ˇ), not a breve. It is the official third-tone mark.
Can I put the number at the start, like 3hao? Do not. The widespread convention is syllable then number: hao3.
What about hao3 with a space? The Writer treats spaces as syllable breaks. Keep a consistent spacing style.
Will a search engine find mǎ if I typed ma3? Not always. If the text will be searched by learners, generate the marked form as well.