Uses pinyin-pro, loaded from jsDelivr (about 0.2 MB) the first time you type. Characters with more than one reading (行 háng / xíng, 重 zhòng / chóng) are read from the words around them.
About the pinyin converter
Pinyin (拼音) is the official way to write Chinese sounds with Latin letters. 中国 is zhōngguó, 你好 is nǐ hǎo. The small marks over the vowels show the tone, and in Chinese the tone changes the meaning.
This tool turns Chinese characters into pinyin (汉字转拼音) as you type. It reads a character from the words around it, so 行 is háng in 银行 (bank) but xíng in 行走 (walk), and 重 is chóng in 重庆 but zhòng in 重要. You can show the pinyin over the characters, like in a children's book or a textbook. It works with Simplified and Traditional characters.
Features
- Right reading in context — 银行 yínháng, 行走 xíngzǒu, 重庆 chóngqìng, 长城 chángchéng, 长大 zhǎngdà
- Three tone styles — tone marks (zhōng), tone numbers (zhong1) or no tones (zhong)
- Spaces your way — between words (zhōngguó), between syllables (zhōng guó) or none
- Pinyin over characters — a ruby preview, copied as 中(zhōng)国(guó) or as HTML
- Tone changes — 一 and 不 change their tone before other tones (yígè, búduì); you can turn this off
- Names — reads the first character as a surname (单 Shàn, 曾 Zēng) and writes Zēng Guófān
- Private — the text is read in your browser; only the dictionary comes from the CDN
Examples
| Characters | Tone marks | Tone numbers | No tones |
|---|---|---|---|
| 中国 | zhōngguó | zhong1 guo2 | zhong guo |
| 你好 | nǐ hǎo | ni3 hao3 | ni hao |
| 谢谢 | xièxiè | xie4 xie4 | xie xie |
| 北京 | běijīng | bei3 jing1 | bei jing |
| 上海 | shànghǎi | shang4 hai3 | shang hai |
| 汉字 | hànzì | han4 zi4 | han zi |
| 拼音 | pīnyīn | pin1 yin1 | pin yin |
| 我爱你 | wǒ ài nǐ | wo3 ai4 ni3 | wo ai ni |
The tone-number and no-tone columns show the "between syllables" spacing.
Characters with more than one reading (多音字)
| Character | In this word | Pinyin |
|---|---|---|
| 行 | 银行 (bank) | yínháng |
| 行 | 行走 (walk) | xíngzǒu |
| 重 | 重庆 (Chongqing) | chóngqìng |
| 重 | 重要 (important) | zhòngyào |
| 长 | 长城 (Great Wall) | chángchéng |
| 长 | 长大 (grow up) | zhǎngdà |
| 乐 | 音乐 (music) | yīnyuè |
| 乐 | 快乐 (happy) | kuàilè |
The tones of 一 and 不
一 (yī) and 不 (bù) change their tone in speech. Before a 4th tone they become 2nd tone: 一个 yígè, 不对 búduì, 不是 búshì. Before other tones 一 becomes 4th tone: 一起 yìqǐ. Textbooks usually write these spoken tones. Dictionaries write the base tone (yīgè, bùduì). Untick Tone changes of 一 and 不 for the dictionary form.
Spaces and the apostrophe
In standard pinyin a word is written as one: zhōngguó, yínháng. When a syllable inside a word starts with a, o or e, an apostrophe shows where it begins: 西安 xī'ān (two syllables, not "xiān"), 女儿 nǚ'ér. The tool adds it for you. The words come from your browser's Chinese word list, so a few word groups can differ between browsers; choose between syllables if you want every syllable apart.
Frequently asked questions
How do I type the tone marks?
You do not need to. Copy the result from this tool. If your system cannot show the marks, choose tone numbers (zhong1 guo2), which only use normal letters.
Why is ü sometimes written as v?
Many keyboards and computer systems have no ü key, so people type v instead: lv for lü (绿). Tick Write ü as v with tone numbers or no tones. With tone marks the tool always writes ǖ ǘ ǚ ǜ.
Is the reading always right?
Almost always for common words. Some characters depend on meaning in a way that a dictionary cannot see, and names can use rare readings. Check names and poems. The Names option helps with surnames like 单 (Shàn) and 曾 (Zēng).
How do I write a Chinese name in pinyin?
Tick Names. The tool writes the surname first and the given name as one word, both with a capital: 曾国藩 → Zēng Guófān. For a passport, Chinese names are written without tone marks: choose No tones.
Does it work with Traditional characters?
Yes. 銀行 and 银行 both give yínháng. To change the characters themselves, use the Simplified ⇄ Traditional Chinese Converter.
Is my text sent anywhere?
No. The pinyin dictionary loads once from the jsDelivr CDN, and the text stays in your browser.
Good to know
- Chinese punctuation becomes normal punctuation in the pinyin (，→ , and 。→ .)
- Latin letters and numbers stay as they are
- Pinyin is written in small letters, except names in the Names option
- Credits: pinyin-pro (MIT License) and its Traditional character list from @pinyin-pro/data (ISC License), loaded from jsDelivr
Related tools
- Simplified ⇄ Traditional Chinese Converter — 繁简转换 with Taiwan and Hong Kong forms
- Chinese Zodiac Calculator — the animal of any birth year
- Chinese New Year Countdown — days until the Lunar New Year
- Text to Speech — hear Chinese text read out
- Furigana Converter — Japanese kanji to hiragana and romaji
- Hangul Romanizer — Korean in Latin letters
How to use it
- Type or paste Chinese characters in the left box. The first time, the dictionary loads (about 0.2 MB)
- The pinyin shows on the right as you type
- Choose Pinyin or Pinyin over characters
- Pick the tone style and the spaces you want
- Press Copy to copy the result
