Paste Chinese text and get Hanyu Pinyin instantly: with tone marks (nǐ hǎo), tone numbers (ni3 hao3) or no tones, as plain text or printed above each character. Characters with several pronunciations are flagged so you can pick the right reading.
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Tones
Conversion runs in your browser; your text is never uploaded. Characters with more than one reading are underlined: click one to pick the reading that fits.
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How to use the Chinese to Pinyin Converter
Paste or type Chinese text in the box. An example sentence is loaded so you can see the result right away.
Choose a tone style: tone marks, tone numbers or no tones, and how ü should be written.
Pick an output format: pinyin above the characters, pinyin only, 汉字(pinyin) or two lines.
Fix readings: underlined characters have more than one pronunciation; click one and choose the reading that fits your sentence.
Copy or download the result, or copy ruby HTML to show pinyin above characters on a web page.
Pinyin tones at a glance
Tone
Mark
Number
Pitch
Example
1st (high level)
mā
ma1
High and flat
妈 mā, mother
2nd (rising)
má
ma2
Rises from mid to high
麻 má, hemp
3rd (dipping)
mǎ
ma3
Low, dips then may rise
马 mǎ, horse
4th (falling)
mà
ma4
Sharp fall from high to low
骂 mà, to scold
Neutral
ma
ma5 or ma
Short and light
吗 ma, question particle
Common polyphonic characters
About one in ten frequently used characters has more than one reading. These are the ones learners meet most often; the converter picks the reading from the surrounding word, and you can click any underlined character to change it.
Character
Reading 1
Reading 2
行
xíng: 行走 xíngzǒu (to walk)
háng: 银行 yínháng (bank)
长
cháng: 长城 Chángchéng (Great Wall)
zhǎng: 长大 zhǎngdà (to grow up)
乐
lè: 快乐 kuàilè (happy)
yuè: 音乐 yīnyuè (music)
觉
jué: 觉得 juéde (to feel)
jiào: 睡觉 shuìjiào (to sleep)
还
hái: 还是 háishi (still, or)
huán: 还书 huán shū (return a book)
重
zhòng: 重要 zhòngyào (important)
chóng: 重新 chóngxīn (again)
得
de: 跑得快 pǎo de kuài (runs fast)
děi: 我得走了 wǒ děi zǒu le (I must go)
了
le: 吃了 chī le (ate)
liǎo: 了解 liǎojiě (to understand)
Pinyin writing tips
ü after j, q, x and y is written u: 去 qù, 鱼 yú. After n and l the dots stay: 女 nǚ, 绿 lǜ. When typing without dots, v or u: is the usual stand-in (nv3, lu:4).
Word spacing: official orthography joins the syllables of one word (Zhōngguó, xuéxí). This tool separates every syllable, which is clearer for learners; join them by hand for formal text.
Apostrophe: when a syllable starting with a, o or e follows another syllable in the same word, an apostrophe marks the boundary, as in Xī'ān.
Ruby text on the web: the HTML <ruby>字<rt>zì</rt></ruby> places pinyin above a character in every modern browser, which is what “Copy ruby HTML” produces.
Frequently asked questions
What is pinyin?
Hanyu Pinyin is the official system for writing Standard Chinese (Mandarin) pronunciation with the Latin alphabet. It was adopted in China in 1958 and is the ISO 7098 standard. Each Chinese character is one syllable, written as an initial, a final and one of four tones (or the neutral tone).
How does the converter handle characters with more than one pronunciation?
Many characters are polyphonic, for example 行 is xíng in 行走 but háng in 银行, and 乐 is lè in 快乐 but yuè in 音乐. The converter uses a word-based dictionary (the open-source pinyin-pro library) to choose the reading from context, and underlines every polyphonic character so you can click it and pick a different reading if needed.
Where does the tone mark go?
The tone mark goes on a if there is one, otherwise on e, on the o of ou, and in every other case on the last vowel: hǎo, xiè, gǒu, guì, liú. In tone-number style the digit simply follows the syllable (hao3), and 5 or no digit marks the neutral tone.
Does it apply tone changes for 一 and 不?
By default no: dictionaries, textbooks and most pinyin text write the original tones (yī, bù). If you tick “Apply 一 / 不 tone changes”, 不 becomes bú before a fourth tone and 一 becomes yí before a fourth tone and yì before other tones, except in numbers, dates and ordinals such as 第一 or 一月. Third-tone sandhi (nǐ hǎo spoken as ní hǎo) is never written in standard pinyin.
Does it work with traditional Chinese characters?
Yes. Traditional characters such as 謝謝 or 學習 are converted the same way as simplified ones. Pinyin is the Mainland standard; Taiwan dictionaries sometimes list a different standard reading for a few characters.
What happens if the dictionary can't load?
The full dictionary is downloaded once from a public CDN. If you are offline or it is blocked, the tool switches to a basic built-in table of several hundred common characters; anything outside it is left unchanged and marked with a question mark.
Is my text sent anywhere?
No. The dictionary runs inside your browser, so the conversion happens on your device and your text is never uploaded or stored online. Only your last input and tone choice are saved in your browser's local storage for convenience.
Are all the tools on FreeToolCabin tested for quality and accuracy?
Yes! Every tool on our site undergoes automated Q/A testing in real browser environments to ensure high precision, correct output, and zero errors. If you happen to spot a bug or have a suggestion, please contact us at [email protected] and our team will review it right away.