Type Chinese online

How pinyin input works

Most people in China type Chinese the same way: they type the pinyin and pick the characters. Type nihao and the keyboard offers 你好 first. Tap it, or press the space bar, and it goes into your text. Many characters share one sound, so the list shows the most common words first, with their pinyin and tone marks under them.

You do not need spaces between syllables or tone marks. Type a word or a whole sentence, such as wojintianhenmang, and the first candidate is 我今天很忙. To keep only part of it, pick a shorter word. The rest of the pinyin stays in the box for the next pick.

Punctuation turns Chinese as you type it: a comma gives ，, a full stop gives 。 and a question mark gives ？. A backslash gives the list comma 、. Turn off Chinese punctuation to keep the plain marks.

Typing ü with v

Keyboards have no ü key, so every pinyin keyboard uses v for it. Type lv for 绿 lǜ and nv for 女 nǚ. After j q x y, the u is already ü, so qu gives 去 qù.

Tone numbers

A number after a syllable picks its tone: 1 for ā, 2 for á, 3 for ǎ, 4 for à and 5 for the neutral tone. hao3 shows 好 and leaves out 号 hào. On a phone, numbers are always tones. On a computer, the number keys pick a candidate until you turn on Type tone numbers.

Not sure of a tone? The pinyin chart with audio plays every syllable in all four tones.

Add a Chinese keyboard to your device

This page is quick when you need a few lines. To type Chinese in every app, add the pinyin keyboard that comes with your device. It is free and works the same way: type pinyin, pick the characters.

iPhone and iPad

1. Open Settings → General → Keyboard → Keyboards.
2. Tap Add New Keyboard, then Chinese, Simplified.
3. Choose Pinyin – QWERTY and tap Done.
4. In any app, tap the globe key to switch keyboards.

Android

1. Open the settings of your keyboard. On most phones it is Gboard: tap the gear above the keys, or go to Settings → System → Keyboard.
2. Tap Languages, then Add keyboard.
3. Choose Chinese (Simplified, China), then Pinyin, and tap Done.
4. Tap the globe key, or hold the space bar, to switch keyboards.

Menu names change a little from phone to phone.

Windows

1. Open Settings → Time & language → Language & region.
2. Select Add a language, choose Chinese (Simplified, China), and install it. The Microsoft Pinyin keyboard comes with it.
3. Press Windows key + Space to switch keyboards. Shift switches between Chinese and English letters.

Mac

1. Open System Settings → Keyboard, and next to Text Input, click Edit.
2. Click +, choose Chinese, Simplified, then Pinyin – Simplified, and click Add.
3. Press Control + Space, or the Globe key, to switch keyboards.

Questions about typing Chinese

How do I type ü?

Type v. lv gives 绿 (lǜ, green) and nv gives 女 (nǚ, woman). After j, q, x and y, the u is already ü, so type ju, qu, xu and yu as they are spelled. lue and nue also work for lüe and nüe.

Do I need to type the tones?

No. Most of the time the right word is first without them. When it is not, add a tone number after a syllable to narrow the list: hao3 shows only 好 (hǎo) and other third-tone words. Use 5 for the neutral tone.

Can I type a whole sentence at once?

Yes. Type it without spaces, for example woxiangqu, and the first candidate is the sentence, 我想去. If it is not quite right, pick a shorter candidate such as 我 or 我想, and the keyboard keeps the rest of the pinyin for the next pick.

What does the apostrophe do?

It marks where a syllable ends. xian can be 先 (xiān) or 西安 (Xī'ān). Type xi'an to get only the two-syllable words.

Can I type only the first letters?

For common words, yes. nh gives 你好 among other words, and zg gives 中国. Full pinyin is more exact, so use the first letters for words you type often.

Is my text sent anywhere?

No. The keyboard runs in your browser. It loads its word list from this site and never sends what you type. Your text is saved in this browser only, so it is still here after a reload.

Does it type traditional characters?

Not yet. The keyboard types simplified characters, which are used in mainland China and Singapore.

Why is a word missing?

The keyboard knows about 40,000 common words and every character in its dictionary. A rare name or a new word may not be in the list. Type it one character at a time: every syllable lists all its characters.

Data credits

Readings and short meanings come from CC-CEDICT, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. The word list built from it for this keyboard is shared under the same license. Word frequencies come from SUBTLEX-CH by Qing Cai and Marc Brysbaert (2010), licensed under CC BY 4.0.