Pinyin Guide: How to Read and Pronounce Chinese Pinyin
Pinyin is the official way to write Mandarin sounds with the Latin alphabet. It is the first thing most learners study, and it is how people type Chinese on phones and computers.
By the Memphys team · Updated · 6 min read
What is pinyin?
Chinese characters don’t show how a word is pronounced. Pinyin, short for 汉语拼音 Hànyǔ Pīnyīn (“Chinese spelled sounds”), fills that gap. It was adopted in China in 1958 and is now the international standard for spelling Mandarin in Latin letters. You will see it in textbooks, dictionaries, children’s books and on signs.
Pinyin uses familiar letters, but not always with English sounds. Learn the few surprises below and you can read almost any word aloud.
How a pinyin syllable is built
Every Mandarin syllable has up to three parts:
- An initial: the consonant at the start, like m in mā.
- A final: the vowel sound and anything after it, like ang in máng.
- A tone: shown by a mark over the vowel. See our guide to the four tones.
Mandarin has only about 400 basic syllables, far fewer than English, which is why tones and characters do so much work.
The 21 initials
b, p, m, f, d, t, n, l, g, k, h, j, q, x, zh, ch, sh, r, z, c, s. Most are close to English. The key difference is air: p, t, k, q, ch, c come with a strong puff of breath, while b, d, g, j, zh, z have none. Hold your hand in front of your mouth and say pà and bà: you should feel the difference.
Pinyin letters English speakers get wrong
| Pinyin | How to say it | Example |
|---|---|---|
| q | Like “ch” in “cheese”, with the tongue flat behind your lower teeth. | 七 qī (seven) |
| x | Between “s” and “sh”, with a smile. Like “sh” in “sheep”, but softer. | 小 xiǎo (small) |
| j | Like “j” in “jeep”, tongue flat and no puff of air. | 鸡 jī (chicken) |
| zh | Like “j” in “jam”, with the tongue curled back. | 桌子 zhuōzi (table) |
| ch | Like “ch” in “church”, tongue curled back, with a puff of air. | 车 chē (car) |
| sh | Like “sh” in “shirt”, tongue curled back. | 书 shū (book) |
| r | Like the “s” in “measure”, tongue curled back. | 人 rén (person) |
| z | Like “ds” in “kids”. | 字 zì (character) |
| c | Like “ts” in “cats”, with a strong puff of air. | 菜 cài (vegetable; dish) |
| ü | Say “ee” and round your lips as if to whistle. | 女 nǚ (woman) |
| e | A relaxed “uh”, said at the back of the mouth. | 喝 hē (to drink) |
| -i after z, c, s, zh, ch, sh, r | Not “ee”: hold the consonant and let it buzz. | 是 shì (to be) |
| ian | Sounds like “yen”, not “ee-an”. | 天 tiān (day; sky) |
Spelling rules worth knowing
- y and w replace i and u at the start of a syllable: i → yi, ian → yan, u → wu, uo → wo.
- ü loses its dots after j, q, x and y, because u can’t follow them: 去 qù, 鱼 yú. After n and l the dots stay, to tell nü from nu: 女 nǚ, 绿 lǜ (green).
- Short spellings: iu is short for iou (六 liù), ui for uei (贵 guì), and un for uen (春 chūn).
Where the tone mark goes
- If there is an a or an e, it takes the mark: hǎo, xiè.
- In ou, the o takes the mark: dōu.
- Otherwise, the last vowel takes it: liù, guì, duō.
Typing Chinese with pinyin
On a phone or computer, add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard. Type the pinyin without tone marks and pick the character you want from the suggestions: type nihao and choose 你好. On most pinyin keyboards, ü is typed as v, so 女 is nv.
Don’t stop at pinyin
Pinyin is a bridge, not the destination. Once you can read it, start linking each word to its characters. Our guides to Chinese radicals and stroke order show you how.
Keep reading
- How to Start Learning Mandarin Chinese: A Beginner's PlanWhere to begin, what to learn first and how to keep going a little every day.
- Mandarin Tones: A Beginner's Guide to the Four TonesThe four tones and the neutral tone, the tone changes to know, and how to practice.
- Chinese Radicals: 20 Common Radicals and What They MeanThe building blocks of characters, with 20 common radicals and their meanings.