Free Chinese pinyin and tones chart

What's inside

• Four tones and a light oneEach tone with its pitch drawn as a line, and the classic mā má mǎ mà ma with 妈 麻 马 骂 吗. Then how a syllable splits into initial, final and tone, and word pairs one tone apart, like 买 mǎi buy and 卖 mài sell.
• 21 initialsEvery starting sound, grouped by where your tongue goes, with a plain English hint and an example word. The tricky ones, like q, x, zh, c and r, are marked in orange.
• 35 finals and the spelling rulesEvery final from a to ün with its sound and a word, then the four rules that trip people up: when ü loses its dots, the short forms iu, ui and un, y and w at the start, and the apostrophe.
• Tone changes, then practiceTwo 3rd tones in a row, 不 bù becoming bú, the three sounds of 一 yī, and where the tone mark goes. Then 14 everyday words and six sentences to read before you check.

How to use it

1. Say mā má mǎ mà out loud, drawing each shape in the air with your hand.
2. Read the initials and finals pages aloud once, then keep them next to you.
3. Cover the pinyin on the last page and say each word from the characters, then slide the paper down to check.
4. Watch something with Chinese subtitles in Kitsumi and hover the words you know. 我, 你, 是 and 不 turn up in nearly every line.

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• 100 Chinese drama phrasesThen pick up the lines dramas use all the time: 天哪, 我想你, 够了 and what 师傅 really means.
• Chinese numbers, time and moneyThen sort out numbers: 一 二 三 up to 万 and 亿, then prices, dates and the time.

Questions