Hanyu Pinyin

21 initials, 24 selected starter finals and a guide to tones.

A few minutes of recall

Study, then find the match.

Turn a card to explore it. Choose six-choice practice when you want a question and a score.

Match a spelling to its pronunciation or spelling cue. See “How it works” for the sound terms and tone rules.

Activity Direction Set

Find a card45 cards

How practice works

One answer per question; a miss reveals the correct match. Each card is mastered after 12 consecutive correct answers in this direction. A miss resets that card’s streak. You can keep practising mastered cards. Reset clears both directions; refreshing starts a new session. Free study and skipped questions do not affect your score.

These questions test recognition of written cues. They do not listen to or assess your pronunciation. Romanization is a guide, not an exact English sound.

Read a syllable, not English letters.

Hanyu Pinyin spells Mandarin pronunciation with Latin letters. An initial is the opening consonant; a final is the following vowel or vowel combination, sometimes ending in n or ng. Add the tone to read the syllable.

b + ā → bā八 · eight

sh + uǐ → shuǐ水 · water

n + ǚ → nǚ女 · woman

The board contains 21 consonantal initials and 24 selected starter finals. It is not the entire set of possible finals: combinations such as ia, iao, ian, uo, uang and iong come later. Not every initial can combine with every final.

“Aspiration” means a burst of air. The pairs b/p, d/t and g/k, for example, contrast mainly in this airflow. A “nasal” sends air through the nose; a “fricative” makes friction through a narrow opening; an “affricate” begins with a closure and releases into friction. “Retroflex” refers to a tongue-tip position farther back than z/c/s. Use these cues with listening, not as exact English substitutions.

A tone belongs to the syllable.

mā1 · High and level

má2 · Rising

mǎ3 · Low / dipping

mà4 · Falling

maNeutral · Light and short

These illustrate four tone categories plus neutral tone. Third tone often stays low in connected speech rather than making a full dip and rise. Tone sequences can change pronunciation; two third tones are a familiar example. Neutral tone’s pitch depends on its surroundings. Matching a mark is not a test of speaking the tone.

Spelling rules that prevent confusion

y and w: a syllable can have no consonantal initial. Spellings such as yī, wǔ and yú help write these syllables; this board does not count y and w among the 21 consonantal initials.

ü and u: keep the dots in nǚ and lǜ. After j, q, x and y, the dots are omitted even when the vowel is ü: jù, qù, xū, yú. Consequently un in chūn and un in jūn do not represent the same underlying final.

i changes with context: mǐ has the high front vowel taught on the i card. The i in zhi, chi, shi, ri, zi, ci and si represents different syllabic sounds. Do not read all of them as English “ee.”

Short spellings: iou, uei and uen become iu, ui and un after an initial, as in liù, shuǐ and chūn. The e in ie and üe differs from e in hé; the fuller notation ê helps distinguish it.

Tone marks: mark a first, then e; in ou mark o; otherwise mark the final vowel when two are written (liù, guì). The dot of i is replaced by its tone mark. Neutral syllables have no tone mark.

The full reference

Reading cues belong to this system, not to English pronunciation. Examples show the letter or spelling in a real word.

Form	Reading cue	Example & notes
b	Lips; little aspirationInitials	爸 bà · dadA spelling and pronunciation cue; use the example in context.
p	Lips; strong aspirationInitials	跑 pǎo · runA spelling and pronunciation cue; use the example in context.
m	Lips; nasalInitials	妈 mā · motherA spelling and pronunciation cue; use the example in context.
f	Lower lip against upper teethInitials	飞 fēi · flyA spelling and pronunciation cue; use the example in context.
d	Tongue tip; little aspirationInitials	大 dà · bigA spelling and pronunciation cue; use the example in context.
t	Tongue tip; strong aspirationInitials	他 tā · heA spelling and pronunciation cue; use the example in context.
n	Tongue tip; nasalInitials	你 nǐ · youA spelling and pronunciation cue; use the example in context.
l	Tongue tip; lateral airflowInitials	来 lái · comeA spelling and pronunciation cue; use the example in context.
g	Back of tongue; little aspirationInitials	高 gāo · tallA spelling and pronunciation cue; use the example in context.
k	Back of tongue; strong aspirationInitials	看 kàn · lookA spelling and pronunciation cue; use the example in context.
h	Back-tongue fricativeInitials	喝 hē · drinkA spelling and pronunciation cue; use the example in context.
j	Front-tongue alveolo-palatal affricate, unaspiratedInitials	鸡 jī · chickenA spelling and pronunciation cue; use the example in context.
q	Aspirated counterpart of jInitials	七 qī · sevenA spelling and pronunciation cue; use the example in context.
x	Front-tongue alveolo-palatal fricativeInitials	西 xī · westA spelling and pronunciation cue; use the example in context.
zh	Retroflex affricate, unaspiratedInitials	中 zhōng · middleA spelling and pronunciation cue; use the example in context.
ch	Retroflex affricate, aspiratedInitials	吃 chī · eatA spelling and pronunciation cue; use the example in context.
sh	Retroflex fricativeInitials	书 shū · bookA spelling and pronunciation cue; use the example in context.
r	Voiced retroflex approximant/fricativeInitials	人 rén · personA spelling and pronunciation cue; use the example in context.
z	Dental/alveolar affricate, unaspiratedInitials	早 zǎo · earlyA spelling and pronunciation cue; use the example in context.
c	Aspirated counterpart of zInitials	菜 cài · vegetableA spelling and pronunciation cue; use the example in context.
s	Dental/alveolar fricativeInitials	三 sān · threeA spelling and pronunciation cue; use the example in context.
a	Open, low vowelStarter finals	妈 mā · motherA spelling and pronunciation cue; use the example in context.
o	Rounded back vowelStarter finals	波 bō · waveA spelling and pronunciation cue; use the example in context.
e	Unrounded central/back vowelStarter finals	河 hé · riverA spelling and pronunciation cue; use the example in context.
i	High front vowel in ordinary contextsStarter finals	米 mǐ · riceA spelling and pronunciation cue; use the example in context.
u	High back rounded vowelStarter finals	五 wǔ · fiveA spelling and pronunciation cue; use the example in context.
ü	High front rounded vowelStarter finals	女 nǚ · womanA spelling and pronunciation cue; use the example in context.
ai	Open vowel → front glideStarter finals	爱 ài · loveA spelling and pronunciation cue; use the example in context.
ei	Mid vowel → front glideStarter finals	杯 bēi · cupA spelling and pronunciation cue; use the example in context.
ui	Written contraction of ueiStarter finals	水 shuǐ · waterA spelling and pronunciation cue; use the example in context.
ao	Open vowel → rounded glideStarter finals	好 hǎo · goodA spelling and pronunciation cue; use the example in context.
ou	Mid vowel → rounded glideStarter finals	口 kǒu · mouthA spelling and pronunciation cue; use the example in context.
iu	Written contraction of iouStarter finals	六 liù · sixA spelling and pronunciation cue; use the example in context.
ie	i followed by open ê-like vowelStarter finals	写 xiě · writeA spelling and pronunciation cue; use the example in context.
üe	ü followed by open ê-like vowelStarter finals	月 yuè · moonA spelling and pronunciation cue; use the example in context.
er	Rhotic vowelStarter finals	二 èr · twoA spelling and pronunciation cue; use the example in context.
an	a followed by -nStarter finals	山 shān · mountainA spelling and pronunciation cue; use the example in context.
en	Central vowel followed by -nStarter finals	门 mén · doorA spelling and pronunciation cue; use the example in context.
in	i followed by -nStarter finals	心 xīn · heartA spelling and pronunciation cue; use the example in context.
un	Written contraction of uenStarter finals	春 chūn · springA spelling and pronunciation cue; use the example in context.
ün	ü followed by -nStarter finals	云 yún · cloudA spelling and pronunciation cue; use the example in context.
ang	a followed by back nasal -ngStarter finals	忙 máng · busyA spelling and pronunciation cue; use the example in context.
eng	Central vowel followed by back nasal -ngStarter finals	冷 lěng · coldA spelling and pronunciation cue; use the example in context.
ing	i followed by back nasal -ngStarter finals	明 míng · brightA spelling and pronunciation cue; use the example in context.
ong	Rounded vowel followed by -ngStarter finals	东 dōng · eastA spelling and pronunciation cue; use the example in context.

Sources & further study

Inventory and notation references were checked on 12 October 2026. Example selections and English explanations are EAJ teaching material. This foundation does not include recorded audio or animated stroke guides.