Chinese Pinyin
Initials (声母)
b—like "b" in boy
p—like "p" in pay (aspirated)
m—like "m" in mom
f—like "f" in fun
d—like "d" in day
t—like "t" in top (aspirated)
n—like "n" in nap
l—like "l" in lip
g—like "g" in go
k—like "k" in key (aspirated)
h—like "h" in hot
j—like "j" in jeep (palatal)
q—like "ch" in cheese (palatal)
x—like "sh" in she (palatal)
zh—like "j" in judge (retroflex)
ch—like "ch" in church (retroflex)
sh—like "sh" in ship (retroflex)
r—like "r" in raw (retroflex)
z—like "ds" in buds
c—like "ts" in cats (aspirated)
s—like "s" in sun
Simple Finals (韵母)
a—ah (father)
o—aw (saw)
e—uh (duh)
i—ee (see)
u—oo (too)
ü—like German ü (French "tu")
er—are (retroflex vowel)
Compound Finals
ai—eye
ei—ay (say)
ao—ow (cow)
ou—oh (low)
ia—ya
ie—ye (yes)
iu—yo (like "eo" in Leo)
iao—yow
ua—wa
uo—wo
ui—way
üe—like ü + eh
Nasal Finals
an—ahn
en—un (fun)
in—een
un—wen
ün—like ü + n
ang—ahng
eng—uhng
ing—eeng
ong—oong
ian—yen
uan—wan
üan—like ü + en
Four Tones
1st: mā (妈)—High flat — mother
2nd: má (麻)—Rising — hemp
3rd: mǎ (马)—Falling-rising — horse
4th: mà (骂)—Sharp falling — scold
5th: ma (吗)—Neutral — question particle
Tone mark placement—On the main vowel: a > e > o > i/u
3rd + 3rd → 2nd + 3rd—nǐ hǎo → ní hǎo (tone sandhi)
不 (bù) before 4th → bú—búshì (tone sandhi)
Common Characters & Pinyin
我 wǒ—I / me
你 nǐ—you
他/她 tā—he / she
是 shì—is / am / are
不 bù—not
好 hǎo—good
大 dà—big
小 xiǎo—small
人 rén—person
中 zhōng—middle / China
国 guó—country
学 xué—to study
Numbers (数字)
一 yī—1
二 èr—2
三 sān—3
四 sì—4
五 wǔ—5
六 liù—6
七 qī—7
八 bā—8
九 jiǔ—9
十 shí—10
百 bǎi—100
千 qiān—1,000
Common Phrases
你好 nǐ hǎo—Hello
谢谢 xièxie—Thank you
不客气 bú kèqi—You're welcome
再见 zàijiàn—Goodbye
对不起 duìbuqǐ—Sorry
没关系 méi guānxi—It's okay
请 qǐng—Please
多少钱 duōshao qián—How much?
我不懂 wǒ bù dǒng—I don't understand
你叫什么名字?—What is your name?
Spelling Rules
j, q, x + ü → ju, qu, xu—ü drops dots after j/q/x
i alone → yi—Standalone i becomes yi
u alone → wu—Standalone u becomes wu
ü alone → yu—Standalone ü becomes yu
iu → iou (actual sound)—Written short, said full
ui → uei (actual sound)—Written short, said full
un → uen (actual sound)—Written short, said full
allprintabledoc.com