Topics · Primary Chinese · Hanyu Pinyin
汉语拼音: writing the sound of a character
Pinyin writes a Chinese syllable in three parts: an initial, a final and a tone. Most marks lost here are lost to the third one — the tone mark that was known and not written.
- 173 exam papers analysed
- appears in 71% of P2 Chinese papers
- ~3 min read
01 Three parts to every syllable
声母 — the initial, the consonant the syllable starts with: b, p, m, f, zh, ch, sh. Some syllables have none.
韵母 — the final, the vowel part that follows: a, o, e, ai, ang, iong.
声调 — the tone, written as a mark over the main vowel. Without it the pinyin is incomplete, and marked wrong.
So mā is m + a + first tone. Change only the tone and it becomes a different word entirely.
| Tone | Mark | Sounds like | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| First 一声 | ā | high and flat | 妈 mā — mother |
| Second 二声 | á | rising, like a question | 麻 má — hemp |
| Third 三声 | ǎ | falling then rising | 马 mǎ — horse |
| Fourth 四声 | à | falling sharply | 骂 mà — to scold |
| Neutral 轻声 | a | light, no mark | 吗 ma — question word |
02 Where the tone mark goes
There is one rule, and it settles almost every case: the mark goes on a, o or e if the final contains one.
- If there is an a, it takes the mark. hǎo, xiǎng, kuài.
- If there is no a but there is an o or an e, that takes it. duō, xiè, gǒu.
- If there is neither, it goes on the last vowel. liù, guī, shuǐ.
- On an i, the dot goes. nǐ, not nı̌ with a dot as well.
- ü keeps its two dots after n and l — nǚ, lǜ — but loses them after j, q, x and y: ju, qu, xu, yu.
03 The pairs papers test
A few initials and finals sound close in Singapore and are confused constantly. These are where the marks are.
- zh / z, ch / c, sh / s — the h ones are made with the tongue curled back. 知 zhī against 资 zī.
- n / l — 那 nà against 辣 là.
- an / ang, en / eng, in / ing — the g ones end in the back of the nose. 心 xīn against 星 xīng.
- ü / u — 女 nǚ against 努 nǔ. Different words.
- Third tone before third tone. 你好 is written nǐ hǎo even though the first is said as a second tone. Write what it is, not what it sounds like.
04 Writing it out
One syllable per character, written without spaces inside a word: 学校 is xuéxiào, not xué xiào at P5 and P6.
Lower case, except for names and the start of a sentence.
Never leave the tone off. An untoned pinyin answer is incomplete, and it is the commonest way this section loses marks.
Going the other way — pinyin to characters — the tone tells you which character. bái is 白, bǎi is 百, bài is 拜.
05 How to say them
These are words most children have never said out loud, and a word you cannot say is a word you avoid using. The respelling is Hanyu Pinyin, with the tone marked over the vowel. Tap the speaker to hear it.
- 汉语拼音sayhàn yǔ pīn yīn
Hanyu Pinyin — the system that writes Chinese sounds in the Latin alphabet.
- 声母sayshēng mǔ
The initial — the consonant a syllable starts with, such as b, zh or x.
- 韵母sayyùn mǔ
The final — the vowel part after the initial, such as a, ai or iang.
- 声调sayshēng diào
The tone. Four tones plus a neutral one, and it is part of the word, not an extra.
- 轻声sayqīng shēng
The neutral tone — light and short, written with no mark: 妈妈 māma.
06 What each level is tested on
The same topic, asked differently as it goes up. The percentage is the share of papers at that level in which it appears.
- P2
Initials, finals and the four tones, and reading pinyin aloud.
Practise P2 Chinese Hanyu Pinyin — 10 questions →71% of P2 Chinese papers
- P3
Writing pinyin for a given character, with the tone mark in the right place.
Practise P3 Chinese Hanyu Pinyin — 8 questions → Practise P3 Higher Chinese Hanyu Pinyin — 8 questions →19% of P3 Chinese papers
29% of P3 Higher Chinese papers
- P4
Distinguishing the pairs — zh and z, n and l, in and ing — in both directions.
Practise P4 Higher Chinese Hanyu Pinyin — 8 questions →30% of P4 Higher Chinese papers
- P5
Pinyin for whole words and phrases, and choosing the character a given pinyin points to.
Practise P5 Chinese Hanyu Pinyin — 8 questions →65% of P5 Chinese papers
- P6
Pinyin inside longer passages, where the tone is what tells two characters apart.
Practise P6 Chinese Hanyu Pinyin — 8 questions →60% of P6 Chinese papers
07 Mistakes worth knowing about
Each of these is wrong. Decide why before you open it.
“I wrote hao instead of hǎo.”
The tone is part of the word. Pinyin without a tone mark is marked wrong even when the letters are right.
“hào — I put the mark on the o.”
An a takes the mark whenever the final has one. It is hǎo.
“你好 — I wrote ní hǎo because that is how it sounds.”
Write the tones the characters have: nǐ hǎo. The change in how it is said is not written.
“nu and nü are the same.”
Different words: 努 nǔ is effort, 女 nǚ is female. The two dots stay after n and l.
“xin and xing sound the same to me.”
心 xīn and 星 xīng are different words. The ng ends in the back of the nose, and papers test the pair.
Now try it
42 questions across 5 levels, marked as you go with the working shown.