Connect Mandarin sounds to their spellings, understand tone marks, and use Pinyin to type your first Chinese words.
Pinyin uses Latin letters and tone marks to show Mandarin pronunciation. The letters follow their own spelling rules, so knowing the alphabet gives you a starting point rather than a complete pronunciation guide.
Learn a syllable, connect it to a Chinese word, then try typing it. If you already know Zhuyin, use the examples to connect the two systems.
Explore the Pinyin chartn + i + third tone → nǐ
Letters show a reading. 你 is the Chinese text.
Start with one useful word and build the skills around it.
Meet initials and finals, with complete words and a Zhuyin reading beside each example.
Take this step 02mā mǎRead the four tone marks, place them on the right vowel and recognize the neutral tone.
Take this step 03你好Enter nihao, choose 你好 and see how pronunciation helps you find the right characters.
Take this step 04nǐ hǎoRecall the Pinyin for short Mandarin words, check your spelling and revisit what you miss.
Take this stepIn mǎ (馬, horse), m is the initial, a is the final and the mark shows third tone. Some syllables begin directly with a final, such as ài (愛, love).
The usual teaching system has 21 consonant initials. y and w help spell syllables that have no consonant initial. Not every initial can combine with every final.
Start by recognizing a complete syllable. Individual letters can change their role in different spellings: the u in qu stands for ü.
A pronunciation guide writes nǐ hǎo so you can see the tones. To enter Chinese on our Pinyin keyboard, start with nihao and select 你好 from the suggestions.
Many words share a pronunciation. The letters narrow the search; your choice decides which characters enter the editor.
Our typing dictionary accepts tone-free input and some numbered readings. Tone-free input has the widest coverage. The learning pages use tone marks because pronunciation is part of what you are studying.
See the first-word walkthrough →No. Hanyu Pinyin represents Mandarin pronunciation. Zhuyin is another way to represent Mandarin sounds; Cantonese uses different pronunciation systems, such as Jyutping.
No. Pronunciation notation and character form are separate choices. You can use Pinyin to study readings of both Simplified and Traditional characters. These lessons mainly show Traditional examples to connect with our Zhuyin resources.
Choose the system used by your course, teacher or reading material. Pinyin is useful when your materials use Latin-letter readings. Zhuyin is particularly useful with learning materials from Taiwan. You can learn one well and then use the comparison guide to build a bridge to the other.
The chart helps with spelling, examples and sound categories. Spoken pronunciation also needs listening and feedback. Use recordings or instruction from a trusted Mandarin course; the diagrams here describe general tone shapes, not every detail of natural speech.
Reference checks: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University · Initials, Pinyin spelling rules and tone changes. Explanations, examples and diagrams here are original learning material for i2Bopomo.