Frequently Asked Questions
How do I type Chinese characters?
Type the pinyin of a word with the letter keys: matching simplified Chinese characters appear in a candidate bar. Press Space to insert the first one, or the number shown (or click) to pick another. The small characters on the keys (手, 田, 水…) are Cangjie components shown for reference only; they are not used on this page.
What is Pinyin input?
Pinyin is the most common Chinese input method. You type the pronunciation in Roman letters, and the system suggests matching Chinese characters.
What's the difference between Simplified and Traditional Chinese?
Simplified Chinese (used in mainland China) has fewer strokes per character. Traditional Chinese (used in Taiwan, Hong Kong) preserves classical character forms.
How do I choose the correct character from suggestions?
When typing Pinyin, multiple characters with the same pronunciation appear. Use number keys or click to select the intended character.
Can I type Chinese punctuation?
Chinese uses full-width punctuation such as 。(full stop), ，(comma), 、(enumeration comma), 「」(quotation marks) and ！？. This keyboard types Western punctuation (. , ! ?) only; for the Chinese marks, copy them or use your system's Chinese input method.
What are radicals in Chinese?
Radicals are character components used for dictionary lookup and some input methods. There are 214 traditional radicals used to classify characters.
How do I type rare or complex characters?
Use handwriting input, radical-based input, or look up the character's Pinyin. Some IMEs allow drawing the character or selecting by components.
What is Zhuyin (Bopomofo)?
Zhuyin is an alternative phonetic system used mainly in Taiwan. It uses special symbols (ㄅㄆㄇㄈ) instead of Roman letters for input.
How do I type numbers in Chinese?
You can type Arabic numerals (1,2,3) or Chinese numerals (一,二,三). Chinese has both simple forms and complex forms (壹,贰,叁) used in formal contexts.
Can I type in Cantonese?
Standard Chinese IMEs use Mandarin Pinyin. For Cantonese, you need a Cantonese-specific IME that uses Jyutping or Yale romanization.