Free tool · No sign-up

Pinyin chart

Every sound in Mandarin. Tap one to hear its four tones, said in a female or a male voice.

Voice
nonebpmfdtnlgkhjqxzhchshrzcs
a
o
e
ai
ei
ao
ou
an
en
ang
eng
ong
er
i
ia
ie
iao
iu
ian
in
iang
ing
iong
u
ua
uo
uai
ui
uan
un
uang
ueng
ü
üe
üan
ün

How to read the chart

Every Mandarin syllable is an initial (the consonant it starts with, across the top) and a final (the rest, down the side). Where they meet is the syllable as it is written: b and ao make bao. An empty square is a sound Mandarin doesn't use.

Each syllable then takes one of four tones. The chart plays all four with a common character that is said that way, so you hear real words, not made-up sounds.

The four tones

  1. mā 妈 Tone 1: high and level.
  2. má 麻 Tone 2: rising.
  3. mǎ 马 Tone 3: low, dipping.
  4. mà 骂 Tone 4: falling.

A fifth, the neutral tone, is short and light (the ma of 吗). It has no mark.

Spelling rules

  • On its own, a final that starts with i, u or ü is written with y or w: yi, ya, wu, wo, yu, yue.
  • After j, q, x and y, ü loses its dots: ju, qu, xu, yu all say ü. After n and l the dots stay, because nu and nü are different words.
  • After an initial, iou, uei and uen are shortened to iu, ui, un: liu, gui, lun.
  • The i in zhi, chi, shi, ri, zi, ci, si isn't the ee of li: it's a buzz that carries on from the consonant. The chart marks those seven.

Keys

Tap or click a sound. On a keyboard, the arrow keys move through the chart, Enter plays all four tones, 1 to 4 play one tone, and / jumps to Find a sound. Press a tone twice to hear it slower.

The voices are generated speech (ElevenLabs), the same two the app's word cards use. The pinyin is how each word is expected to sound.

ma

Tap any sound in the chart to hear its four tones.