Make the next word a little easier.

Pinyin spelling and tone practice.

Practice the Pinyin readings of useful Chinese words. Enter tone numbers or marks, use hints, and check each answer as you learn.

Recall a reading. Keep the tone.

A few words, at your pace

Read the Chinese and enter its dictionary Pinyin. No timer, no account.

Progress lasts until you leave or reload this page. “Unaided first check” counts a correct first answer without opening the reading hint.

What this checks

Spelling and written tones

Use the dictionary tones, including a mark or number for first tone. For a neutral syllable, leave the tone unmarked or use 5 or 0. For ü, you can enter ü, v or u:.

These answers check Pinyin spelling, not your spoken pronunciation. In nǐ hǎo, both written tones are third tones even though the first is normally pronounced with a rising tone.

Listen uses an installed local Mandarin voice when available. A device voice is a study aid and may pronounce connected-speech tone changes.

From reading to typing

Take it to the keyboard

This exercise asks for tones so you can learn the reading. On the Pinyin keyboard, start with plain letters such as nihao and choose the Chinese candidate you want. You do not need tone-marked letters there.

Zhuyin represents the same Mandarin readings with a different set of symbols. Open a reading hint to see the connection.

Open the Pinyin keyboard →Follow the typing lesson →Compare Pinyin and Zhuyin →

A small study set

Review the words

Try the reading first, then open a word to check. Traditional characters are used throughout.

你好hello

nǐ hǎoni3 hao3

Keep both written third tones. In ordinary speech, the first one is usually pronounced with a rising tone.

中國China

zhōng guózhong1 guo2

Start with the initial zh. The first syllable has first tone; the second has second tone.

老師teacher

lǎo shīlao3 shi1

The second syllable is shi, with first tone. Its i does not sound like the i in ni.

學生student

xué shēngxue2 sheng1

After x, the dots of ü are omitted in standard Pinyin: write xue. The second syllable ends in ng.

北京Beijing

běi jīngbei3 jing1

Use ei in the first syllable and ing in the second.

上海Shanghai

shàng hǎishang4 hai3

The first syllable ends in ang and has fourth tone. The second has third tone.

中文Chinese language

zhōng wénzhong1 wen2

The second syllable is written wen and has second tone.

早安good morning

zǎo ānzao3 an1

Separate the vowel-initial syllable an with a space or apostrophe, as in zǎo ān or zǎo’ān. Numbers also make the boundary clear: zao3an1.

女female; woman

nǚnv3

Keep the two dots after n. You can enter nü3, nv3, nu:3 or nǚ. Plain nu3 has a different vowel.

綠green

lǜlv4

Keep the two dots after l. Enter lü4, lv4, lu:4 or lǜ.

雨rain

yǔyu3

The ü sound is written yu when it forms this syllable without an initial.

月moon; month

yuèyue4

Write yue, with fourth tone. The tone mark goes on e.

去to go

qùqu4

After q, the dots are omitted: write qu even though the vowel is ü.

學to learn

xuéxue2

Write xue, with second tone. The tone mark belongs on e.

好good

hǎohao3

For “good”, use third tone. The tone mark belongs on a.

茶tea

chácha2

Use the initial ch, then a with second tone.

書book

shūshu1

Use sh followed by u, with first tone. Here u has no two dots.

嗎yes-or-no question particle

mama5

This question particle has neutral tone. Use no tone mark, or enter ma5 or ma0.

的possessive or descriptive particle

dede5

For this particle, use the neutral reading de. Other meanings of the character have other readings.

呢question particle, as in “and you?”

nene5

This use of ne has neutral tone. Enter ne, ne5 or ne0.

Keep going

Learn Pinyin

Pinyin tonesLearn the four Mandarin tone marks, the neutral tone, and where to place the mark in a Pinyin syllable. Check your understanding with short exercises. Pinyin typing lessonEnter a Pinyin spelling, choose Chinese characters and copy your text. Follow examples using the actual i2Bopomo keyboard. Pinyin & ZhuyinCompare Pinyin spellings and Bopomofo symbols through the same Mandarin words. Understand tone notation and choose a useful next step.