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Your complete reference chart for Chinese Pinyin — all initials, finals, and the four tones that bring Chinese to life.
Initials & Tones
Pinyin is the official romanization system for Chinese. It uses Latin letters with tone marks to represent Chinese pronunciation. Every Chinese syllable has an initial (consonant), a final (vowel/ending), and a tone.
j, q, x are palatals (tongue near the roof) — only pair with i/ü finals. zh, ch, sh, r are retroflexes (tongue curled back). z, c, s are flat tongue sounds. q is NOT like English "q" — it sounds like "ch" with a sharper tongue!
The same syllable with different tones becomes a completely different word. Getting tones right is essential for being understood in Chinese.
Compound Finals
ü becomes u after j, q, x (jü → ju, qü → qu, xü → xu) — the dots are dropped.
i alone after zh, ch, sh, z, c, s, r is a "buzzed" vowel, not "ee."
iu is actually "iou" shortened · ui is actually "uei" shortened · un is actually "uen" shortened.
你好 (nǐ hǎo) = Hello ·
谢谢 (xiè xie) = Thank you ·
再见 (zài jiàn) = Goodbye
中国 (zhōng guó) = China ·
学习 (xué xí) = Study ·
是 (shì) = Yes/is ·
不 (bù) = No/not