Mandarin The Wild vs Zhongwen
Both put a card under your pointer. Zhongwen lists dictionary entries; Mandarin The Wild picks the one that fits the sentence.
We make Mandarin The Wild. We checked Zhongwen’s own pages on 7 October 2026, and we say where it does more.
Which Zhongwen
This page is about the original Zhongwen by Christian Schiller, linked in the Sources, not one of the extensions with a similar name. It is free and open source, and it also has a Firefox version. Zhongwen: Chrome Web Store listing and Zhongwen: official repository.
What each card shows
Zhongwen looks a word up in CC-CEDICT, a free dictionary, and shows its entries with tone-coloured pinyin. You can switch on Zhuyin, and it links to grammar notes. Zhongwen: Chrome Web Store listing.
Mandarin The Wild reads the sentence first, then shows the meaning the word has in it, with its pinyin, its parts and its sound. Here is the card for one word in a real sentence.
我想看懂这篇文章。
article; essay
To compare them fairly, point at the same word in the same sentence in both.
Side by side
| What you want to do | Mandarin The Wild | Zhongwen |
|---|---|---|
| Look up words on a web page | Yes. Point at any word, in Chrome or Edge. Mandarin The Wild: Chrome Web Store listing | Yes. Point at any word, in Chrome or Firefox. Zhongwen: official repository |
| See the meaning in this sentence | Yes. One meaning, picked for the sentence. | No. Lists the dictionary’s entries. Zhongwen: Chrome Web Store listing |
| Read Zhuyin | No. Pinyin only. | Yes. Optional. Zhongwen: Chrome Web Store listing |
| Keep words | Yes. Backpack and Review, on any device with an account. | Yes. A word list in the browser. Zhongwen: Chrome Web Store listing |
| Export to Anki | Yes. From Backpack. | Yes. Text export. Zhongwen: official repository |
Where Zhongwen does more
Zhongwen has Zhuyin, grammar links and Skritter support, works in Firefox, and is open source. If you want a plain dictionary pop-up with nothing else, it does that job well. Zhongwen: Chrome Web Store listing.
Which to choose
If you want the full dictionary entry for every word, Zhongwen is a good choice. If you want the meaning that fits the sentence, YouTube subtitles too, and your words back in Review, try Mandarin The Wild.
Questions
Does Zhongwen save words?
Yes. It keeps a word list you can export for Anki.
Does Zhongwen show Zhuyin?
Yes, as an option beside tone-coloured pinyin.
Is this about Zhongwen Enhanced?
No. It is about the original Zhongwen; the Sources link to its listing and code.
Is Mandarin The Wild free?
Looking words up is free, with no account. A free account lets you keep words in your Backpack and review them.
Sources
Checked on 7 October 2026. Prices and features change; tell us if one has.