The complete pinyin chart, and how to read it

A pinyin chart lists the two halves every Mandarin syllable is built from: 21 initials (the consonant onsets) and about 35 finals (the vowel endings), plus four tone marks. Learn the chart and you can pronounce any syllable in the language.

What a pinyin chart shows

Pinyin is the official romanization of Standard Mandarin, approved in mainland China in 1958. Every syllable is initial + final + tone: zh + ong + first tone gives zhōng (中). Syllables with no initial take a y or w placeholder — yī, wǔ — so nothing is written starting with a bare i or u.

The pieces don't combine freely. Ignoring tone, Mandarin has roughly 400 legal syllables, far fewer than the grid allows.

The 21 initials

Initial	Sounds like	Example
b	unaspirated p (spy)	bā 八
p	p in pie, with a puff	pá 爬
m	m in me	mā 妈
f	f in fun	fàn 饭
d	unaspirated t (sty)	dà 大
t	t in tea, with a puff	tā 他
n	n in no	nǐ 你
l	l in low	lái 来
g	unaspirated k (sky)	gǒu 狗
k	k in kite, with a puff	kàn 看
h	raspier than English h, toward Scottish loch	hǎo 好
j	j in jeep, lips spread, tongue tip down	jiā 家
q	ch in cheese, lips spread, tongue tip down	qù 去
x	sh in she, lips spread, tongue tip down	xiè 谢
zh	j in jar, tongue curled back	zhōng 中
ch	ch in church, tongue curled back	chī 吃
sh	sh in shore, tongue curled back	shì 是
r	between r in run and s in measure	rén 人
z	ds in reads	zài 再
c	ts in cats — never k, never s	cài 菜
s	s in sun	sān 三

Two things most charts skip. b, d and g aren't voiced like English b, d, g; they're unaspirated p, t, k. And c catches nearly everyone: cài (菜) opens like the end of cats.

The three sets that get confused

j q x, zh ch sh and z c s are three separate places of articulation, and loose approximations collapse them into two. zh ch sh are retroflex, tongue tip curled toward the roof of the mouth. z c s are dental, tongue tip near the upper teeth. j q x sit between, tongue tip down behind the lower teeth, lips spread as if smiling.

The spelling hands you a clue: j, q and x appear only before i or ü, and zh ch sh z c s g k h never do. If you see xi, it cannot be shi.

Approximations only get you close. If you need the sound itself, Chinese Phrasebook is a Chinese phrasebook app for iPhone — hearing a line spoken beside its pinyin settles the q/ch and j/zh pairs faster than any chart.

The finals: every vowel ending

Final	Sounds like	Example
a	a in father	mā 妈
o	rounded aw; after b/p/m/f really -uo	mó 摩
e	u in duh, lips unrounded	hē 喝
i	ee in see	mǐ 米
-i after z/c/s/zh/ch/sh/r	a buzz, tongue still	shì 是
u (wu)	oo in food	bù 不
ü (yu)	say ee, then round your lips	lǜ 绿
er	American er in her	èr 二
ai	eye	mǎi 买
ei	ay in say	měi 美
ao	ow in how	hǎo 好
ou	oa in boat	dōu 都
an	an in ban	màn 慢
en	un in under	hěn 很
ang	ah + ng	máng 忙
eng	uh + ng	lěng 冷
ong	oo + ng	zhōng 中
ia (ya)	ya in yard	jiā 家
ie (ye)	ye in yes	xiè 谢
iao (yao)	yow	xiǎo 小
iu, full form iou (you)	yo	liù 六
ian (yan)	nearer yen than yan	tiān 天
in (yin)	een	xīn 心
iang (yang)	yah + ng	liǎng 两
ing (ying)	ing in sing	míng 明
iong (yong)	y + ong	yòng 用
ua (wa)	wah	huā 花
uo (wo)	waw	guó 国
uai (wai)	why	kuài 快
ui, full form uei (wei)	way	huí 回
uan (wan)	wan	wán 完
un, full form uen (wen)	wun	chūn 春
uang (wang)	wah + ng	huáng 黄
ueng (weng)	occurs only as weng	wēng 翁
üe (yue)	ü + eh	xuě 雪
üan (yuan)	ü + en	yuǎn 远
ün (yun)	ü + n	yún 云

Counts differ between textbooks: the official table runs to about 35, a few more once ê, er and the buzzing -i of zi and shi are counted separately. Watch the contractions — iou, uei and uen are written iu, ui and un after an initial.

Why ju, qu, xu and yu are really ü

j, q, x and y never take a true u, so the dots are dropped as redundant: jū, qù, xū and yǔ all carry the ü vowel. After n and l the dots stay, because both vowels occur there — nǔ (努) versus nǚ (女), lù (路) versus lǜ (绿). On a phone keyboard ü is typed as v: nv gives 女.

How to read pinyin tone marks

Mandarin has four tones plus a neutral tone, and Chinese tone marks sit over a vowel: mā (妈, mother), má (麻, hemp), mǎ (马, horse), mà (骂, to scold), ma (吗, question particle). Same letters, five words.

Placement follows one rule: mark the a if there is one, otherwise the o or e; in iu and ui, mark the last vowel — liù, guì. The dot on i vanishes under a mark (nǐ), and ü keeps its dots (lǜ). Dictionaries and keyboards often use numbers instead: ma1 ma2 ma3 ma4.

Marks show the citation tone, not always what leaves your mouth. Two third tones in a row shift the first to a rising tone — nǐ hǎo is said ní hǎo — but it stays written with two third-tone marks.

Writing conventions people trip over

Pinyin is written in words, not syllable by syllable: Wǒ shì Zhōngguórén, not Wo shi Zhong guo ren. Where a syllable begins with a, o or e and the break would be unclear, an apostrophe marks it: Xī'ān (西安) is two syllables, xiān (先) is one. Personal names put the surname first and join the given name: Wáng Xiǎomíng.

Pinyin vs Chinese characters

Pinyin records sound; characters record meaning, which is why pinyin vs Chinese characters isn't a choice between two writing systems. Shì alone matches 是, 事, 市, 试, 室 and dozens more — only the character says which. Pinyin is how you type, how you look words up, and how you speak before you can read. Chinese has no alphabet in the European sense; the Chinese alphabet question has a longer answer than most beginners expect.

FAQ

What is pinyin, exactly?

Pinyin (拼音 pīnyīn, "spelled sound") is the official system for writing Mandarin pronunciation in Latin letters. It appears in mainland schoolbooks, dictionaries, street signs and phone keyboards, and spells sound only.

How long does it take to learn pinyin?

Reading pinyin aloud usually clicks within a week or two of daily practice. Producing the sounds accurately — q, x, r, ü and the tone contours especially — takes longer, and needs a model to imitate rather than more reading.

Do Chinese people use pinyin?

Yes, mainly for typing and for teaching children to read. Adults type pinyin on their phones constantly, but they read and write characters.

Is pinyin pronunciation the same as English spelling?

No. Several letters carry values English doesn't have: c is ts, q and x are palatal sounds English lacks, zh ch sh r are retroflex, and e alone is an unrounded back vowel.

Why do some pinyin words contain an apostrophe?

It marks a syllable boundary before a, o or e where the reading would be ambiguous — Xī'ān is two syllables, xiān is one. It's punctuation for the reader, not a sound.