Pinyin converter
Turn Chinese characters into pinyin with tones, read it above each character, then copy it.
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How to convert Chinese characters to pinyin
Paste or type Chinese characters, and the pinyin appears above each one. Pinyin is the official way to write the sounds of Mandarin with the Latin alphabet, and the tone marks show how each syllable moves.
Below, you get the same pinyin as text, written the way textbooks write it: the syllables of a word together (yínháng, not yín háng), an apostrophe when a syllable starting with a, o or e follows another (Xī'ān), and a capital letter at the start of each sentence.
Characters with more than one reading
Some characters change their sound with their meaning: 行 is xíng in 行人 (pedestrian) but háng in 银行 (bank), and 了 is le after a verb but liǎo in 了解 (to understand). The converter reads each character in the context of the whole sentence.
Common characters with another reading are underlined with dots. Select one to see its readings and pick the right one if the context needs it.
Tone marks, tone numbers or no tones
Tone marks (mā, má, mǎ, mà) are what you read in books and apps. Tone numbers (ma1, ma2, ma3, ma4) are easier to type on any keyboard; the neutral tone, written without a mark, is shown as 5.
Pinyin without tones is useful for typing Chinese on a phone or computer, but it is not enough to pronounce a word: the tone is part of the word.
Dictionary tones or spoken tones
Dictionaries write each syllable with its original tone. In speech, a few tones change: two third tones in a row become a second and a third tone (你好 is written nǐ hǎo but said ní hǎo), 不 becomes bú before a fourth tone, and 一 changes with the tone that follows.
Turn on “As pronounced” to see these changes, highlighted in the pinyin. They follow the usual rules taught to learners; in fast speech, native speakers group words in different ways.
Where the readings come from
The readings come from pinyin-pro, an open-source pinyin library that reads each character in the context of its sentence.
Neutral tones are the main thing to watch: some words keep their full tones, such as 谢谢 shown as xièxiè but usually said xièxie. Names, rare characters and new words can also be read wrongly. If a reading looks odd, check it in a dictionary or with a teacher.
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Frequently asked questions
How do I convert Chinese characters to pinyin?
Paste the characters into the pinyin converter. The pinyin appears above each character and as text you can copy, with tone marks, tone numbers or no tones.
How do I type pinyin with tone marks?
Type the text in Chinese characters and convert it here, then copy the pinyin with its tone marks. You can also write tone numbers (ni3 hao3) on any keyboard; on most phones, holding a vowel key shows the accented letters.
What does the number 5 mean in pinyin?
With tone numbers, 5 marks the neutral tone: a short, light syllable written without a tone mark, like the second syllable of 妈妈 māma (ma1ma5).
Why is 你好 written nǐ hǎo but pronounced ní hǎo?
When two third tones follow each other, the first one is said as a second tone. Pinyin keeps the original tones in writing; turn on “As pronounced” to see the spoken tones.
Is the pinyin always correct?
Common words are read reliably. Names, rare characters, neutral tones and words with several possible readings can still need a quick check.
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