Chinese to Pinyin Converter

Turn Chinese text into pinyin. Show pinyin above each character, or get the pinyin as plain text.

Features

  • Converts Chinese text to pinyin with tone marks (nǐ hǎo), tone numbers (ni3 hao3), no tones (ni hao) or first letters only (nh)
  • Shows pinyin above each character, and exports plain pinyin, “character (pinyin)” or HTML ruby tags
  • Characters with several readings (银行 háng, 行走 xíng and so on) are chosen from context with a word dictionary, and you can press one to correct it
  • Traditional characters are looked up via their simplified forms and shown as you typed them
  • Choose whether to write the tone changes of 一 and 不, and whether to write ü as v
  • Copy and print. Your text is never uploaded

Use cases

Making Chinese study materials

Print a text with pinyin above every character for reading practice.

Looking up how to read characters

Paste Chinese text and see the pinyin at once.

Typing or searching in pinyin

Tone numbers and v for ü give pinyin you can type on any keyboard.

Writing names and places in Latin letters

Without tones you get the basis of official spellings. Check a person's documents for the exact spelling of their name.

Privacy

Your text is converted inside this browser on this device and is never sent anywhere. The dictionaries (pinyin-pro and a traditional-to-simplified table) are loaded from this site the first time you use them. Only your settings (pinyin style, export format and so on) are saved, in this browser on this device.

FAQ

Can the readings be wrong?

Yes. Readings are chosen by the pinyin-pro dictionary library from a word dictionary and the surrounding characters, and common trouble spots (还 hái/huán, 得 de/děi, 地 de/dì, the neutral tone in 看看) are corrected with rules on this page. They are checked against about 800 common words and short sentences, but unusual phrasing and long sentences can still be misread. Characters with more than one reading are underlined; press one to choose the right reading.

Does it work with traditional characters?

Yes. Traditional characters are mapped to simplified ones to look up the reading, and the text is shown as you entered it. Characters that also exist in simplified Chinese with a different use (such as 乾 and 著) are not mapped and may get the wrong reading (乾燥 → qián zào, 穿著 → chuān zhù; correct: gān zào, chuān zhuó). Underlined characters can be corrected with a click. Where the standard reading differs between Taiwan and the mainland, you get the mainland (Putonghua) reading.

The tone of 一 or 不 differs from the dictionary

一 and 不 change tone depending on the next syllable (一个 yí gè, 不对 bú duì). By default the dictionary tones (yī, bù) are written; turn on “Show tone changes of 一 and 不” to write the changed tones. The third-tone change (你好 is pronounced ní hǎo) is not written in either setting.

Which number is the neutral tone?

The neutral tone is written as 5 (们 → men5). Some dictionaries and input methods use 0 or no number instead.

What does printing include?

“Print” prints only the text with pinyin above the characters, without buttons or settings.

Related tools

Enter Chinese text and it will be converted to pinyin right away.

Simplified and traditional characters both work. Your text is converted on this device and never uploaded.

Pinyin style

Pinyin style

Off (default) uses dictionary tones (一 yī, 不 bù). On writes the changed tone before the next syllable (一个 yí gè, 不对 bú duì).

Characters with pinyin

The text with pinyin above each character will appear here.

Readings are chosen automatically from a dictionary and the context, so mistakes are possible. Please check underlined characters in particular.

Export

Format

Your settings are saved on this device. The text you enter is not saved.