Mandarin Chinese Pinyin Chart with Videos

	FINALS
INITIALS		a					o			e					i										u									ü
		a	ai	ao	an	ang	o	ong	ou	e	ei	en	eng	er	i	ia	iao	ie	iu	ian	iang	in	ing	iong	u	ua	uo	ui	uai	uan	un	uang	ueng	ü	üe	üan	ün
		a	ai	ao	an	ang	o		ou	e	ei	en	eng	er	yi	ya	yao	ye	you	yan	yang	yin	ying	yong	wu	wa	wo	wei	wai	wan	wen	wang	weng	yu	yue	yuan	yun
	b	ba	bai	bao	ban	bang	bo				bei	ben	beng		bi		biao	bie		bian		bin	bing		bu
	p	pa	pai	pao	pan	pang	po				pei	pen	peng		pi		piao	pie		pian		pin	ping		pu
	m	ma	mai	mao	man	mang	mo		mou	me	mei	men	meng		mi		miao	mie		mian		min	ming		mu
	f	fa			fan	fang	fo		fou		fei	fen	feng												fu
	d	da	dai	dao	dan	dang		dong	dou	de	dei	den	deng		di	dia	diao	die	diu	dian			ding		du		duo	dui		duan	dun
	t	ta	tai	tao	tan	tang		tong	tou	te	tei		teng		ti		tiao	tie		tian			ting		tu		tuo	tui		tuan	tun
	n	na	nai	nao	nan	nang		nong		ne	nei	nen	neng		ni		niao	nie	niu	nian	niang	nin	ning		nu		nuo			nuan				nü	nüe
	l	la	lai	lao	lan	lang	lo	long	lou	le	lei		leng		li	lia	liao	lie	liu	lian	liang	lin	ling		lu		luo			luan	lun			lü	lüe
	z	za	zai	zao	zan	zang		zong	zou	ze	zei	zen	zeng		zi										zu		zuo	zui		zuan	zun
	c	ca	cai	cao	can	cang		cong	cou	ce		cen	ceng		ci										cu		cuo	cui		cuan	cun
	s	sa	sai	sao	san	sang		song	sou	se		sen	seng		si										su		suo	sui		suan	sun
	zh	zha	zhai	zhao	zhan	zhang		zhong	zhou	zhe	zhei	zhen	zheng		zhi										zhu	zhua	zhuo	zhui	zhuai	zhuan	zhun	zhuang
	ch	cha	chai	chao	chan	chang		chong	chou	che		chen	cheng		chi										chu		chuo	chui	chuai	chuan	chun	chuang
	sh	sha	shai	shao	shan	shang			shou	she	shei	shen	sheng		shi										shu	shua	shuo	shui	shuai	shuan	shun	shuang
	r			rao	ran	rang		rong	rou	re		ren	reng		ri										ru	rua	ruo	rui		ruan	run
	g	ga	gai	gao	gan	gang		gong	gou	ge	gei	gen	geng												gu	gua	guo	gui	guai	guan	gun	guang
	k	ka	kai	kao	kan	kang		kong	kou	ke	kei	ken	keng												ku	kua	kuo	kui	kuai	kuan	kun	kuang
	h	ha	hai	hao	han	hang		hong	hou	he	hei	hen	heng												hu	hua	huo	hui	huai	huan	hun	huang
	j														ji	jia	jiao	jie	jiu	jian	jiang	jin	jing	jiong										ju	jue	juan	jun
	q														qi	qia	qiao	qie	qiu	qian	qiang	qin	qing	qiong										qu	que	quan	qun
	x														xi	xia	xiao	xie	xiu	xian	xiang	xin	xing	xiong										xu	xue	xuan	xun

The j, q, x vs. zh, ch, sh sounds

Native English speakers often have trouble distinguishing between these sounds. For instance, 'x' and 'sh' sound similar to native English ears, but to native Chinese speakers, the sounds are completely different. The tongue and lip positions are very different. For 'sh', the tip of the tongue should be on the roof of the mouth, and 'x' the tip of the tongue should be behind the lower teeth.

Below are links to videos in the EverydayChinese format that illustrate the difference. Watch these videos carefully and practice making the correct sounds

Pinyin - Shu and Xu

Pinyin - Chi and Qi

Pinyin - Zhi and Ji

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What is Pinyin?

Hanyu Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Mandarin Chinese sounds into a Latin alphabet. It was invented in 1950s, and adopted as a standard in mainland China in 1958. Pinyin is used for several purposes such as: teaching Chinese, transcribing names and places into words accessible to european language speakers, and used as an input method for typing Chinese characters.

Pinyin is not the only system devised to transcribe Chinese sounds into roman letters. An older system called Wade-Giles was used in the first half of the 20th century and it has left its mark on the English language. For instance, 功夫 is romanized as "kungfu" in Wade-Giles, but "gongfu" in Pinyin. Also, 北京 (the capital of China) was in the past romanized as "Peking", but is "Beijing" in Pinyin. It is a common misconception that the city changed names, but the sound never changed, only how we spell the sound with letters.