Pinyin Chart: Every Mandarin Sound in One Place

沉浸 TeamAugust 16, 20266 min read

This pinyin chart lists every syllable in Mandarin Chinese, organized by initial. That's the whole language's sound system on one page: around 400 syllables before tones, about 1,300 once tones are counted. Skim the rows, listen for the patterns, and come back whenever a spelling surprises you.

If you're brand new to pinyin, read the complete pinyin guide first so the terms below (initial, final, tone) make sense. And if you want to see any of these syllables inside real words, paste a sentence into the free Chinese to pinyin converter.

How to read this chart

A traditional pinyin table is a grid: initials down the side, finals across the top. That works on a wall poster, but on a phone it's easier to read row by row, so this chart gives each initial its own section with every final it can combine with.

Initial: the consonant a syllable starts with (b, zh, x...). Mandarin has 21.
Final: the vowel part that follows (a, ang, iao...). About 35.
Not every combo exists. The chart below only lists syllables Mandarin uses. There's no "bi-ang," no "fai," no "kin." Gaps are normal.
Tones multiply the chart by ~4. Each syllable below can carry up to four tones (plus the neutral tone), and not every tone of every syllable is a real word. See the tones guide for how the four tones work and the tone marks guide for where the mark goes.

A handful of rare syllables (like kei, zhei, rua, and the interjections lo and hng) are left out. You can go years without meeting them.

The lip sounds: b, p, m, f

b: ba, bo, bai, bei, bao, ban, ben, bang, beng, bi, bie, biao, bian, bin, bing, bu
p: pa, po, pai, pei, pao, pou, pan, pen, pang, peng, pi, pie, piao, pian, pin, ping, pu
m: ma, mo, me, mai, mei, mao, mou, man, men, mang, meng, mi, mie, miao, miu, mian, min, ming, mu
f: fa, fo, fei, fou, fan, fen, fang, feng, fu

Tip: b is an unaspirated "p" (no puff of air), p gets a strong puff. Try 爸爸 (bàba, dad) vs 怕 (pà, to fear). Notice how short f's row is: f only takes a few finals.

The tongue-tip sounds: d, t, n, l

d: da, de, dai, dei, dao, dou, dan, dang, deng, dong, di, die, diao, diu, dian, ding, du, duo, dui, duan, dun
t: ta, te, tai, tao, tou, tan, tang, teng, tong, ti, tie, tiao, tian, ting, tu, tuo, tui, tuan, tun
n: na, ne, nai, nei, nao, nan, nen, nang, neng, nong, ni, nie, niao, niu, nian, nin, niang, ning, nu, nuo, nuan, nü, nüe
l: la, le, lai, lei, lao, lou, lan, lang, leng, long, li, lia, lie, liao, liu, lian, lin, liang, ling, lu, luo, luan, lun, lü, lüe

Tip: n and l are the only initials that keep the two dots on ü, because nu/nü and lu/lü are different syllables: 女 (nǚ, woman) vs 努力 (nǔlì, to work hard).

The throat sounds: g, k, h

g: ga, ge, gai, gei, gao, gou, gan, gen, gang, geng, gong, gu, gua, guo, guai, gui, guan, gun, guang
k: ka, ke, kai, kao, kou, kan, ken, kang, keng, kong, ku, kua, kuo, kuai, kui, kuan, kun, kuang
h: ha, he, hai, hei, hao, hou, han, hen, hang, heng, hong, hu, hua, huo, huai, hui, huan, hun, huang

Tip: these three never combine with i or ü finals. That's exactly the gap j, q, x fill.

The smile sounds: j, q, x

j: ji, jia, jie, jiao, jiu, jian, jin, jiang, jing, jiong, ju, jue, juan, jun
q: qi, qia, qie, qiao, qiu, qian, qin, qiang, qing, qiong, qu, que, quan, qun
x: xi, xia, xie, xiao, xiu, xian, xin, xiang, xing, xiong, xu, xue, xuan, xun

Tip: j, q, x only ever combine with i and ü finals, said with the tongue tip down and a slight smile. The u in ju, qu, xu is secretly ü: 去 (qù, to go). Compare 七 (qī, seven) with 吃 (chī, to eat) to feel the difference from the curled row below.

The curled-back sounds: zh, ch, sh, r

zh: zha, zhe, zhi, zhai, zhao, zhou, zhan, zhen, zhang, zheng, zhong, zhu, zhua, zhuo, zhuai, zhui, zhuan, zhun, zhuang
ch: cha, che, chi, chai, chao, chou, chan, chen, chang, cheng, chong, chu, chuo, chuai, chui, chuan, chun, chuang
sh: sha, she, shi, shai, shei, shao, shou, shan, shen, shang, sheng, shu, shua, shuo, shuai, shui, shuan, shun, shuang
r: re, ri, rao, rou, ran, ren, rang, reng, rong, ru, ruo, rui, ruan, run

Tip: the i in zhi, chi, shi, ri isn't "ee." It's a buzzed continuation of the consonant: 是 (shì, to be) sounds like "shrr," and 日本 (Rìběn, Japan) starts with a smooth buzz.

The teeth sounds: z, c, s

z: za, ze, zi, zai, zei, zao, zou, zan, zen, zang, zeng, zong, zu, zuo, zui, zuan, zun
c: ca, ce, ci, cai, cao, cou, can, cen, cang, ceng, cong, cu, cuo, cui, cuan, cun
s: sa, se, si, sai, sao, sou, san, sen, sang, seng, song, su, suo, sui, suan, sun

Tip: z is "ds" as in "kids," c is "ts" as in "cats." 菜 (cài, dish) is "tsai." The i rule applies here too: 四 (sì, four) is a buzzed "szz," not "see."

Syllables with no initial

Some syllables are just a final. When they start with i, u, or ü, pinyin respells them with y or w so word boundaries stay readable:

Plain vowels: a, o, e, ai, ei, ao, ou, an, en, ang, er
The i family (respelled with y): yi, ya, ye, yao, you, yan, yin, yang, ying, yong
The u family (respelled with w): wu, wa, wo, wai, wei, wan, wen, wang, weng
The ü family (respelled with yu): yu, yue, yuan, yun

Tip: y and w aren't new sounds, just spelling helpers. And er is its own syllable: 二 (èr, two). The related "r" that glues onto other words (哪儿, nǎr) is erhua.

One syllable, four tones

Take ma through all four tones and you get four unrelated words:

mā 妈 (mom)
má 麻 (hemp, numb)
mǎ 马 (horse)
mà 骂 (to scold)

Every row in this chart works the same way, which is why the chart alone isn't enough: you need the tones in your ear. That's the focus of Learn Pinyin in 7 Steps.

How to practice with the chart

Don't memorize it top to bottom. Use it as a map: when a syllable surprises you in the wild, find its row and its neighbors.
Drill the confusable rows in pairs: j/q/x against zh/ch/sh, and z against c.
Hear real words, not isolated rows. Look up any word in the dictionary, like 中国, to hear its syllables with audio.
Say them back. With a free account, the Tone Coach records your voice and shows your pitch curve next to a native speaker's, syllable by syllable.