Frequently Asked Questions
How do I type the four pinyin tones?
Add the tone number right after the syllable: ma1 → mā (first tone, high and level), ma2 → má (rising), ma3 → mǎ (falling-rising), ma4 → mà (falling). A digit typed after a character that is not pinyin stays a digit. You can also switch to AltGr and click ā á ǎ à, ē é ě è, ī í ǐ ì, ō ó ǒ ò, ū ú ǔ ù, ǖ ǘ ǚ ǜ directly, or use the dead keys ¯ ´ ˇ ` (press the mark first, then the vowel).
Which vowel gets the tone mark?
The standard rule: on a or e if the syllable has one (hǎo, xiè, mèi), on the o of "ou" (dōu, gǒu), otherwise on the last vowel (liù, guì, duō). The keyboard applies this automatically: type liu4 to get liù, gui4 to get guì.
How do I type ü, as in lü and nü?
The key where V sits on a QWERTY keyboard types ü (Shift: Ü), just as in Chinese input methods. lü4 gives lǜ (绿, green) and nü3 gives nǚ (女, woman). After j, q, x and y, the ü sound is written u without dots: ju, qu, xu, yu.
How do I write the neutral tone?
Type 5 or 0 after the syllable: ma5 or ma0 gives ma with no mark, and the number is removed. For example ma1ma5 → māma, xie4xie5 → xièxie. The neutral tone carries no mark in pinyin.
How is this different from the site's Chinese keyboard?
The Chinese keyboard converts pinyin into Chinese characters (nihao → 你好). This keyboard writes no characters: it produces the pinyin itself with tone marks (nǐ hǎo), for learners, textbooks, flashcards, names and homework.
How do I type pinyin tone marks on Windows, Mac or a phone?
Windows has no standard layout for pinyin tone marks, and the Microsoft Pinyin IME outputs Chinese characters. On a Mac, the ABC – Extended input source gives Option+a (macron), Option+e (acute), Option+v (caron) and Option+` (grave), followed by the vowel. On phones, long-pressing a vowel rarely offers every form (ǎ, ǐ, ǚ and so on). The simplest way is to type here in any browser and copy the text.
Should tone changes (tone sandhi) be marked?
Generally no. Pinyin writes each syllable's original tone: nǐ hǎo is written with two third tones even though it is pronounced ní hǎo. Some textbooks do mark the changes of 一 and 不 (yí gè, bú shì); just type the tone number you want to display.