Free · No add-on · No sign-up
Pinyin in Google Sheets and Excel
Chinese in column A, one formula in column B: every row fills with its pinyin, meaning and HSK level, read word by word.
Paste this in B2, then drag it down
| A | B | C | D | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chinese | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK level |
| 2 | 银行 | yínháng | bank | HSK 3 |
| 3 | 行李 | xíngli | luggage; baggage | HSK 3 |
| 4 | 长城 | chángchéng | the Great Wall | HSK 4 |
| 5 | 长大 | zhǎngdà | to grow up | HSK 2 |
| 6 | 你好世界 | nǐhǎo shìjiè |
For 银行 the formula asks mandarinthewild.com/sheet?w=银行, which answers yínháng,bank,HSK 3.
HSK 1 · Now read them in a real story
十两饺子 How to order dumplings in Chinese
莎拉
饭馆
莎拉
老板
In Excel
Excel for Windows reads one column a formula: =WEBSERVICE("https://mandarinthewild.com/sheet?get=pinyin&w="&ENCODEURL(A2)) for the pinyin, with get=meaning or get=level for the others. Excel for Mac and Excel on the web have no WEBSERVICE: fill the sheet in Google Sheets and download it as .xlsx.
Why is it better than a pinyin add-on?
It reads each cell word by word, as a reader does, so a character with two readings gets the one its word uses: 行 is háng in 银行 and xíng in 行李, and 长 is cháng in 长城 and zhǎng in 长大. Add-ons and scripts that look up one character at a time get these wrong.
Can I get tone numbers?
Yes. Add &tones=numbers before ENCODEURL: ni3hao3 in place of nǐhǎo.
What if a cell holds a sentence?
You get the pinyin of the whole cell, word by word with spaces between. The meaning and level fill in only when the cell is one word.
Are there limits?
Up to 64 characters a cell. A cell with no Chinese gives empty cells. Google Sheets fetches each row itself, so a long list fills in over a few seconds.
Do you keep my words?
No. Each cell is read and answered; nothing is stored with it and no account is needed.
Then learn the list
Download the sheet as CSV and drop it into Bring your words: each word goes into Review, with its pinyin and meaning, so you hear it and recall it on the right day. Bring the list into Review
More free tools
Readings and meanings come from our own dictionary and reader. Nothing you send is kept.