Pinyin

Chinese is very different from other languages that use alphabet because the written form
is not directly linked to its pronunciation. In order to provide a phonetic way to express
the sounds of Chinese and also for using dictionaries, Chinese linguists with the help of
Soviet sinologists drafted the Scheme for the Chinese Phonetic lphabet!. In "#$%,
Chinese government passed the law to use this scheme, today known as pinyin or literary,
arranged sounds!.
Pinyin uses the &atin alphabet to transcribe Chinese characters. 'owadays, most people
who study (andarin Chinese, start learning the language from pinyin, it)s compulsory in
Chinese schools and basically, every Chinese in Mainland China starts learning pinyin
from kindergarten *$+, y.o.-. .owever, the old generation of Chinese *born before "#$%-
and those who live in /aiwan, may not necessarily know how to write in pinyin.
0e use pinyin in our lessons as well, all lesson transcripts and worksheets include pinyin
along with Chinese characters and 1nglish translations.
/able of pinyin *arranged sounds-. /his table below represents all possible combinations
of sounds that exist in (andarin Chinese, in our lessons you will learn how to
pronounce them correctly. 2or now, 3ust have a look4
A: a, ai, an, ang, ao
B: ba, bai, ban, bang, bao, bei, ben, beng, bi, bian, biao, bie, bin, bing, bo, bu
C: ca, cai, can, cang, cao, ce, cen, ceng, cha, chai, chan, chang, chao, che, chen, cheng,
chi, chong, chou, chu, chuai, chuan, chuang, chui, chun, chuo, ci, cong, cou, cu, cuan,
cui, cun, cuo
D: da, dai, dan, dang, dao, de, dei, deng, di, dian, diao, die, ding, diu, dong, dou, du,
duan, dui, dun, duo
E: e, ei, en, er
F: fa, fan, fang, fei, fen, feng, fo, fou, fu
G: ga, gai, gan, gang, gao, ge, gei, gen, geng, gong, gou, gu, gua, guai, guan, guang, gui,
gun, guo
H: ha, hai, han, hang, hao, he, hei, hen, heng, nhg, hong, hou, hu, hua, huai, huan, huang,
hui, hun, huo
J: 3i, 3ia, 3ian, 3iang, 3iao, 3ie, 3in, 3ing, 3iong, 3iu, 3u, 3uan, 3ue, 3un
: ka, kai, kan, kang, kao, ke, ken, keng, kong, kou, ku, kua, kuai, kuan, kuang, kui, kun,
kuo
!: la, lai, lan, lang, lao, le, lei, leng, li, lia, lian, liang, liao, lie, lin, ling, liu, long, lou, lu,
lv, luan, lue, lun, luo
M: ma, mai, man, mang, mao, me, mei, men, meng, mi, mian, miao, mie, min, ming,
miu, mo, mou, mu
": na, nai, nan, nang, nao, ne, nei, nen, neng, ng, ni, nian, niang, niao, nie, nin, ning, niu,
nong, nu, nv, nuan, nue, nuo
#: o, ou
P: pa, pai, pan, pang, pao, pei, pen, peng, pi, pian, piao, pie, pin, ping, po, pou, pu
$: 5i, 5ia, 5ian, 5iang, 5iao, 5ie, 5in, 5ing, 5iong, 5iu, 5u, 5uan, 5ue, 5un
%: ran, rang, rao, re, ren, reng, ri, rong, rou, ru, ruan, rui, run, ruo
&: sa, sai, san, sang, sao, se, sen, seng, sha, shai, shan, shang, shao, she, shei, shen, sheng,
shi, shou, shu, shua, shuai, shuan, shuang, shui, shun, shuo, si, song, sou, su, suan, sui,
sun, suo
': ta, tai, tan, tang, tao, te, teng, ti, tian, tiao, tie, ting, tong, tou, tu, tuan, tui, tun, tuo
(: wa, wai, wan, wang, wei, wen, weng, wo, wu
): xi, xia, xian, xiang, xiao, xie, xin, xing, xiong, xiu, xu, xuan, xue, xun
*: ya, yan, yang, yao, ye, yi, yin, ying, yong, you, yu, yuan, yue, yun
+: 6a, 6ai, 6an, 6ang, 6ao, 6e, 6ei, 6en, 6eng, 6ha, 6hai, 6han, 6hang, 6hao, 6he, 6hei, 6hen,
6heng, 6hi, 6hong, 6hou, 6hu, 6hua, 6huai, 6huan, 6huang, 6hui, 6hun, 6huo, 6i, 6ong, 6ou,
6u, 6uan, 6ui, 6un, 6uo
Chinese Characters
Chinese characters originate from pictograms. /hey have more than ,--- years of
history.
In modern Chinese, there are about .-/--- characters, but most educated Chinese know
about ,/---0./--- characters. Some characters are extremely rare and not commonly
used. 2or a foreigner who learns Chinese, knowing between 1/--- and 2/--- Chinese will
be enough to be fluent in reading Chinese newspapers and books.
'ow let)s talk about how Chinese characters are written. /here are some basic rules you
need to follow, as long as you follow them, writing Chinese will be a piece of cake for
you.
Chinese characters are written by combining various kinds of strokes!+lines, hooks,
dots, etc. ctually, these strokes! are always repeating, so once you know them all, you
are good to go. /here is a special order when you write Chinese characters, some
strokes! go first, some go after.
.ere are the rules of writing Chinese characters, as I said, some strokes! should be
written before the others.
". Hori3ontal stro4e always 5oes be6ore 7ertical8
7. Downward0le6t 5oes be6ore downward0ri5ht8
8. Generally/ stro4es should be written 6rom le6t to ri5ht8
9. And 6rom top to bottom8
$. From outside to inside8
,. #utside part is always written be6ore the inside part/ and when closin5 the
character 9 6or inner parts :8
:. Middle stro4e is written be6ore two sides/ i6 there are any8
'ow let)s take a look at examples of some common characters in (andarin Chinese4
'ihao+!.ello!, literally, you good!
0o+!I! and shi+!am!
0hen you subscribe for PDF transcripts and wor4sheets of our lessons, you will see
that we use both traditional and simplified versions of Chinese characters. 0hat)s the
difference between the traditional and simplified characters; 0ell, traditional characters
are used in /aiwan and simplified in China, you will have a choice to access both
versions. Considering China)s role in today)s world, most people prefer simplified
characters, unless if you have a special interest in ancient Chinese literature or live in
/aiwan, then you choose traditional characters.