Chinese Pinyin

There were many other parallel systems prior to Hanyu Pinyin was established. Since Pinyin was adopted officially in China for only around 50 years. So one can still find some materials (mostly old) to be published using other system.

Wade-Giles once was one of the most common system. Here we compiled this Wade-Giles to pinyin Conversion table for just in case you need this.

Wade-Giles to pinyin Conversion Table

Wade-Giles | pinyin

a a
ai ai
an an
ang ang
ao ao
cha zha
ch’a cha
chai zhai
ch’ai chai
chan zhan
ch’an chan
chang zhang
ch’ang chang
chao zhao
ch’ao chao
che zhe
ch’e che
chen zhen
ch’en chen
cheng zheng
ch’eng cheng
chi ji
ch’i qi
chia jia
ch’ia qia
chiang jiang
ch’iang qiang
chiao jiao
ch’iao qiao
chieh jie
ch’ieh qie
chien jian
ch’ien qian
chih zhi
ch’ih chi
chin jin
ch’in qin
ching jing
ch’ing qing
chiu jiu
ch’iu qiu
chiung jiong
ch’iung qiong
cho zhuo
ch’o chuo
chou zhou
ch’ou chou
chu zhu
ch’u chu
chü ju
ch’ü qu
chua zhua
chuai zhuai
ch’uai chuai
chuan zhuan
ch’uan chuan
chüan juan
ch’üan quan
chuang zhuang
ch’uang chuang
chüeh jue
ch’üeh que
chui zhui
ch’ui chui
chun zhun
ch’un chun
chün jun
ch’ün qun
chung zhong
ch’ung chong
en en
erh er
fa fa
fan fan
fang fang
fei fei
fen fen
feng feng
fo fo
fou fou
fu fu
ha ha
hai hai
han han
hang hang
hao hao
hei hei
hen hen
heng heng
ho he
hou hou
hsi xi
hsia xia
hsiang xiang
hsiao xiao
hsieh xie
hsien xian
hsin xin
hsing xing
hsiu xiu
hsiung xiong
hsü xu
hsüan xuan
hsüeh xue
hsün xun
hu hu
hua hua
huai huai
huan huan
huang huang
hui hui
hun hun
hung hong
huo huo
i yi
jan ran
jang rang
jao rao
je re
jen ren
jeng reng
jih ri
jo ruo
jou rou
ju ru
juan ruan
jui rui
jun run
jung rong
ka ga
k’a ka
kai gai
k’ai kai
kan gan
k’an kan
kang gang
k’ang kang
kao gao
k’ao kao
ken gen
k’en ken
keng geng
k’eng keng
ko ge
k’o ke
kou gou
k’ou kou
ku gu
k’u ku
kua gua
k’ua kua
kuai guai
k’uai kuai
kuan guan
k’uan kuan
kuang guang
k’uang kuang
kuei gui
k’uei kui
kun gun
k’un kun
kung gong
k’ung kong
kuo guo
k’uo kuo
la la
lai lai
lan lan
lang lang
lao lao
le le
lei lei
leng leng
li li
liang liang
liao liao
lieh lie
lien lian
lin lin
ling ling
liu liu
lo luo
lou lou
lu lu
lü lü
luan luan
lüan luan
lüeh lue
lun lun
lung long
ma ma
mai mai
man man
mang mang
mao mao
mei mei
men men
meng meng
mi mi
miao miao
mieh mie
mien mian
min min
ming ming
miu miu
mo mo
mou mou
mu mu
na na
nai nai
nan nan
nang nang
nao nao
nei nei
nen nen
neng neng
ni ni
niang niang
niao niao
nieh nie
nien nian
nin nin
ning ning
niu niu
no nuo
nou nou
nu nu
nü nü
nuan nuan
nüeh nue
nung nong
o e
ou ou
pa ba
p’a pa
pai bai
p’ai pai
pan ban
p’an pan
pang bang
p’ang pang
pao bao
p’ao pao
pei bei
p’ei pei
pen ben
p’en pen
peng beng
p’eng peng
pi bi
p’i pi
piao biao
p’iao piao
pieh bie
p’ieh pie
pien bian
p’ien pian
pin bin
p’in pin
ping bing
p’ing ping
po bo
p’o po
p’ou pou
pu bu
p’u pu
sa sa
sai sai
san san
sang sang
sao sao
se se
sen sen
seng seng
sha sha
shai shai
shan shan
shang shang
shao shao
she she
shen shen
sheng sheng
shih shi
shou shou
shu shu
shua shua
shuai shuai
shuan shuan
shuang shuang
shui shui
shun shun
shuo shuo
so suo
sou sou
ssu si
su su
suan suan
sui sui
sun sun
sung song
ta da
t’a ta
tai dai
t’ai tai
tan dan
t’an tan
tang dang
t’ang tang
tao dao
t’ao tao
te de
t’e te
teng deng
t’eng teng
ti di
t’i ti
tiao diao
t’iao tiao
tieh die
t’ieh tie
tien dian
t’ien tian
ting ding
t’ing ting
tiu diu
to duo
t’o tuo
tou dou
t’ou tou
tu du
t’u tu
tuan duan
t’uan tuan
tui dui
t’ui tui
tun dun
t’un tun
tung dong
t’ung tong
tsa za
ts’a ca
tsai zai
ts’ai cai
tsan zan
ts’an can
tsang zang
ts’ang cang
tsao zao
ts’ao cao
tse ze
ts’e ce
tsei zei
tsen zen
ts’en cen
tseng zeng
ts’eng ceng
tso zuo
ts’o cuo
tsou zou
ts’ou cou
tsu zu
ts’u cu
tsuan zuan
ts’uan cuan
tsui zui
ts’ui cui
tsun zun
ts’un cun
tsung zong
ts’ung cong
tzu zi
tz’u ci
wa wa
wai wai
wan wan
wang wang
wei wei
wen wen
weng weng
wo wo
wu wu
ya ya
yai yai
yang yang
yao yao
yeh ye
yen yan
yin yin
ying ying
yo yo
yu you
yü yu
yüan yuan
yüeh yue
yün yun
yung yong

If you are learning Chinese, you shall realize the importance of Pinyin and Pinyin tones. Without good knowledge of Pinyin, it’s hard to go anywhere in terms of learning Chinese. Check out this great free tools in helping you learning Chinese Pinyin .

This website also contains a great Pinyin table, you can find all Pinyin there and here them pronounced in each Chinese Pinyin tones.

In Mandarin Chinese it happens that sometimes we change the tones of certain Pinyin syllable to improve the clarity or ease pronunciation difficulties, here are some general rules.

1. The 3rd tone is a changeable tone. When two 3rd tones come together, the first 3rd tone should be changed into a 2nd tone, e.g., nĭ hăo (你好 hello) should be pronounced níhăo.

2. When a 3rd tone is followed by a 1st, 2nd, 4th or neutral tone, the 3rd tone should be pronounced as a low 3rd tone. In other words it is a low sustained tone, e.g., as in jĭnzhāng (紧张 nervous) and jiĕfàng (解放 liberate). Both jĭn and jiĕ stay in the lower part of your voice and you don’t move the sound up.

3. Only under the following situations should the 3rd tone be pronounced as a proper 3rd tone:

* when a 3rd tone is on its own. For example, the mono-syllabic expression hăo (好 OK, all right).
* when a 3rd tone is at the end of a sentence or a phrase, e.g. fànghăo (放好 to put [something] properly.)

4. When a sentence has three third tones next to each other, it can be changed into the following two patterns:

* second, second and proper third
* lower third, second and proper third.

For example: wŏ hĕn hăo (我很好 I am fine) can be pronounced either wŏ hénhăo or wó hénhăo.

The neutral tone in Mandarin Chinese is a short and light tone, as described above. The best way to remember how to pronounce the neutral tone is to remember its length and its pitch as follows:

* The syllable before the neutral tone should be pronounced longer, as if it is a crochet in music notation and the neutral tone as a quaver.
* A neutral tone should be in the middle range of your voice. If a neutral tone is preceded by a low tone such as a third (curved) tone or a low ending tone such as a fourth (falling) tone, the neutral tone should end up at a higher pitch than the preceding tones; if a neutral tone is preceded by a first (sustained) tone or second (rising) tone, the neutral tone should end at a lower pitch than the preceding tones.

Here are some examples of tone changes

1 xiè xie 2 hăo ma 3 mā ma 4 péng you
5 jiĕ jie 6 xìng zhi 7 hái zi 8 yá men

There are four tones in Mandarin Chinese Pinyin, plus one neutral tone(or called “no tone”).

First tone in Chinese Pinyin
The first tone is marked as a straight line like this¯. It has a long and sustained sound (as if singing a note).

Second tone in Chinese Pinyin
The second tone is marked upwards like this . It is a rising tone (start from the lower part of your voice, then go up).

Third tone in Chinese Pinyin
The third tone is marked down and up like this ˇ. It is a low and curved tone. Try to go as low as you can and then bounce up.

Fourth in Chinese Pinyin
The fourth tone is marked downwards like this. It is a falling tone (start from the grating highest part of your voice, then go down, as if exclaiming).

Neutral in Chinese Pinyin
The neutral tone has no mark. It is a short and light tone.

Where should I mark the tones?
Tones should be marked on a vowel. If a word has more than one vowel, the tone should be marked on the main vowel of the word. Vowels are listed in the following order: a, o, e, i, u and ü. As the vowel ‘a’ appears first in this list, the tone in the word liao should be marked on the vowel ‘a’.