Zhuyin ↔ pinyin chart
These are the 350 syllables you meet most often in Mandarin, written in Zhuyin and in pinyin. Columns are initials. Rows are finals. An empty box means that syllable is rare or does not exist.
Where Zhuyin and pinyin spell differently
Both systems write the same sounds. But pinyin uses Latin letters, so it has some spelling rules. Zhuyin has one symbol for each part of the syllable. This makes Zhuyin very regular.
| Zhuyin | Pinyin | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| ㄓㄔㄕㄖㄗㄘㄙ alone | zhi, chi, shi, ri, zi, ci, si | These syllables have no vowel symbol in Zhuyin. Pinyin adds an i. |
| ㄧ, ㄨ, ㄩ at the start | yi, wu, yu · ya, wa, yue | Pinyin writes y and w when there is no initial. Zhuyin just writes the medial. |
| ㄐㄑㄒ + ㄩ | ju, qu, xu | Pinyin drops the two dots of ü after j, q and x. Zhuyin always writes ㄩ. |
| ㄨㄟ, ㄧㄡ, ㄨㄣ | gui, liu, dun | Pinyin shortens uei, iou and uen after an initial. Zhuyin keeps all the parts. |
| ㄅㄆㄇㄈ + ㄛ | bo, po, mo, fo | The vowel sounds like “uo”, but both systems write o. |
How to read the chart
- Find the initial in the top row. For example, ㄍ (g).
- Find the final in the left column. For example, ㄨㄛ (-uo).
- The box where they meet is the syllable: ㄍㄨㄛ = guo, as in 國 (country).
- Add the tone mark: ㄍㄨㄛˊ = guó.
The tones are not in this chart. See the tone mark guide. To hear every syllable in every tone, open the syllable map in Zhuyin Pro.
Hear every syllable.
The syllable map in Zhuyin Pro plays each syllable in each tone, in the Chinese voice of your phone.
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