Pinyin table

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This pinyin table is a complete listing of all Hanyu Pinyin syllables used in Standard Mandarin. Each syllable in a cell is composed of an initial (columns) and a final (rows).An empty cell indicates that the corresponding syllable does not exist in Standard Mandarin.

The below table indicates possible combinations of initials and finals in Standard Mandarin, but does not indicate tones, which are equally important to the proper pronunciation of Chinese. Although some initial-final combinations have some syllables using each of the 5 different tones, most do not. Some utilize only one tone.

Pinyin entries in this page can be compared to syllables using the (non-romanized) Zhuyin phonetic system in the Zhuyin table page.

NOTE: many syllables are not pronounced similarly to the English conventions. For a more thorough explanation, please refer to the main Pinyin article.

Finals are grouped into subsets a, i, u and ü.

i, u and ü groupings indicate a combination of those finals with finals from Group a. For example:

  • Group i: i+ao=iao, i+ê=ie, i+ou=iu
  • Group u: u+ai=ui, u+ing=ong
  • Group ü: ü+ê=ue, ü+ing=iong


Most syllables are a combination of an initial and a final. However, some syllables have no initials. This is shown in Pinyin as follows:

  • if the final begins with an i, it is replaced with a y
  • if the final begins with an u, it is replaced with a w
  • if the final begins with an ü, it is replaced with yu
  • exceptions to the rules above are indicated by yellow in the table's no initial column:

Note that the y, w, and yu replacements above do not change the pronunciation of the final in the final-only syllable. They are used to avoid ambiguity when writing words in pinyin. For example, instead of:

  • "uen" and "ian" forming "uenian", which could be interpreted as:
    • "uen-ian"
    • "uen-i-an" or
    • "u-en-i-an"
  • the syllables are written "wen" and "yan" which results in the more distinct "wenyan"


Pinyin table Initials Pinyin table
(no initial) b p m f d t n l g k h j q x zh ch sh r z c s
Group a Finals -i zhi chi shi ri zi ci si -i Group a Finals
a a ba pa ma fa da ta na la ga ka ha zha cha sha za ca sa a
o o bo po mo fo lo o
e e me de te ne le ge ke he zhe che she re ze ce se e
ê ê ê
ai ai bai pai mai dai tai nai lai gai kai hai zhai chai shai zai cai sai ai
ei ei bei pei mei fei dei nei lei gei kei hei zhei shei zei ei
ao ao bao pao mao dao tao nao lao gao kao hao zhao chao shao rao zao cao sao ao
ou ou pou mou fou dou tou nou lou gou kou hou zhou chou shou rou zou cou sou ou
an an ban pan man fan dan tan nan lan gan kan han zhan chan shan ran zan can san an
en en ben pen men fen nen gen ken hen zhen chen shen ren zen cen sen en
ang ang bang pang mang fang dang tang nang lang gang kang hang zhang chang shang rang zang cang sang ang
eng eng beng peng meng feng deng teng neng leng geng keng heng zheng cheng sheng reng zeng ceng seng eng
er er er
Group i Finals i yi bi pi mi di ti ni li ji qi xi i Group i Finals
ia ya lia jia qia xia ia
io yo io
ie ye bie pie mie die tie nie lie jie qie xie ie
iao yao biao piao miao diao tiao niao liao jiao qiao xiao iao
iu you miu diu niu liu jiu qiu xiu iu
ian yan bian pian mian dian tian nian lian jian qian xian ian
in yin bin pin min nin lin jin qin xin in
iang yang niang liang jiang qiang xiang iang
ing ying bing ping ming ding ting ning ling jing qing xing ing
Group u Finals u wu bu pu mu fu du tu nu lu gu ku hu zhu chu shu ru zu cu su u Group u Finals
ua wa gua kua hua zhua chua shua ua
uo wo duo tuo nuo luo guo kuo huo zhuo chuo shuo ruo zuo cuo suo uo
uai wai guai kuai huai zhuai chuai shuai uai
ui wei dui tui gui kui hui zhui chui shui rui zui cui sui ui
uan wan duan tuan nuan luan guan kuan huan zhuan chuan shuan ruan zuan cuan suan uan
un wen dun tun lun gun kun hun zhun chun shun run zun cun sun un
uang wang guang kuang huang zhuang chuang shuang uang
ong weng dong tong nong long gong kong hong zhong chong rong zong cong song ong
Group ü Finals ü yu nü lü ju qu xu ü Group ü Finals
ue yue nue lue jue que xue ue
üan yuan juan quan xuan üan
ün yun jun qun xun ün
iong yong jiong qiong xiong iong
Pinyin table (no initial) b p m f d t n l g k h j q x zh ch sh r z c s Pinyin table
Initials
Colour Legend:
"regular" initial or final

Final is in Group a or is a direct combination of:

  • i+Group a final
  • u+Group a final
  • ü+Group a final
Final of i, u, ü groups is a modified combination of:
  • i+Group a final
  • u+Group a final
  • ü+Group a final
syllable is direct combination of initial and final

(or follows rules for no-initial syllables outlined at the top of the page)
syllable is modified combination of initial and final
Modified i, u, and ü group finals:
The following finals in the i, u, and ü groups are a modified combination of i, u or ü with a group a final:
  • ie=i+ê
  • iu=i+ou
  • in=i+en
  • ing=i+eng
  • ui=u+ei
  • un=u+en
  • ong=u+eng
  • ue=ü+ê
  • ün=ü+en
  • iong=ü+eng


A few additional syllables are formed in pinyin by combining an initial-final combination from the table above with an additional er-final. Rather than two distinct syllables, the last "er" is contracted with the first combination, and therefore represented as one syllable (analogous to "they're" instead of "they are", and "isn't" instead of "is not" in English)

initial+final+er combinations
Syllable Result initial final er final
banr b an er
pir p i er
mianr m ian er
fur f u er
dianr d ian er
dingr d ing er
tangr t ang er
tuir t ui er
nar n a er
nür n ü er
ger g e er
ganr g an er
kour k ou er
kongr k ong er
hair h ai er
haor h ao er
huar h ua er
huor h uo er
huir h ui er
jinr j in er
xiar x ia er
xianr x ian er
zher zh er
shir sh er
shuir sh ui er
wanr uan er
wor uo er

[edit] See also