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HanCam · Free tool
Chinese to Pinyin Converter
Paste Chinese text and read the pinyin with tone marks. Simplified and Traditional hanzi, converted in your browser.
Pinyin
Paste or type Chinese text. The pinyin appears here as you type.
Your text is converted on this page and is not uploaded. Readings are chosen by word context: right most of the time, not always. Check names and rare characters.
When a converter is not enough
A converter needs text you can select and paste. A lot of Chinese is not like that: a street sign, a restaurant menu, a photo, a screenshot, a game, a PDF you cannot select.
For that there is HanCam, a camera translator for iPhone and iPad. Point the camera at the text, or import a photo or screenshot, and HanCam shows the hanzi, the pinyin with tone marks and the English translation together. Recognition and translation run on your device, so it works offline after a one-time language download. It works best on clear, horizontal printed text.
The live camera overlays in Apple Translate and Google Translate show the translated sentence, with no pinyin. See the comparison of Chinese camera translators.
Read Chinese you cannot copy: signs, menus, photos and screenshots.
Free for iPhone and iPad · iOS 18 or later · 10 free translations a day
What pinyin is, and why tone marks matter
Hanzi (汉字) are the Chinese characters. They do not show how a word is pronounced. Pinyin (拼音) does: it is the official way to write the sounds of Mandarin Chinese with Latin letters, and it is what learners, dictionaries and phone keyboards use.
Every syllable has a tone, and the tone is part of the word. The same letters with four different tone marks are four different words:
The mark sits on a vowel and shows the pitch: level, rising, falling then rising, or falling. A syllable with no mark has the neutral tone. There is more in the hanzi to pinyin guide.
Simplified and Traditional hanzi
Mainland China, Singapore and Malaysia write Simplified characters. Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau write Traditional characters. 银行 and 銀行 are the same word, bank, and both are read yín háng.
The converter accepts either script, or a mix of both, and keeps your characters exactly as you entered them. Pinyin spells Mandarin pronunciation. It does not show Cantonese or other readings of the same characters.
Tone marks or tone numbers
Tone marks (nǐ hǎo) are what textbooks, dictionaries and HSK material print. Tone numbers (ni3 hao3) write the tone as a digit after the syllable, 1 to 4, with 5 for the neutral tone. Numbers are easy to type and are common in flashcard files and older software.
No tones (ni hao) gives plain letters, the way names and addresses are often written. It leaves out information you need to say the word. The letter ü stays ü in all three styles.
Characters with more than one reading
Many common characters have two or more readings. 行 is háng in 银行 (bank) and xíng in 行人 (pedestrian). 重 is chóng in 重庆 (Chongqing) and zhòng in 重要 (important). 长 is cháng in 长城 (Great Wall) and zhǎng in 校长 (principal).
The converter looks at the neighbouring characters and picks the reading that fits the word. That is right most of the time, not always. Short grammar words such as 得, 地 and 还 are sometimes wrong, and so are personal names, place names and rare characters. If a reading matters, check it in a dictionary.
一 and 不 are shown with the tone they take in speech (yí gè, bú shì), as most textbooks print them.
Frequently asked questions
How do I convert Chinese characters to pinyin?
Paste or type Chinese text into the box at the top of this page. The pinyin appears as you type, above each character or as pinyin-only text. Choose tone marks, tone numbers or no tones, then use the copy buttons to take the result with you.
Is this a pinyin translator?
It translates Chinese characters into pinyin, which is what most people mean by a pinyin translator. It does not translate Chinese into English. For hanzi, pinyin and an English translation together, use the HanCam app on an iPhone or iPad.
Does the converter work with Traditional Chinese?
Yes. Simplified and Traditional characters are both converted, and you can mix them in one text. The pinyin is the same for both scripts because they write the same Mandarin words.
How accurate is the pinyin?
Common words are right most of the time, because the converter picks the reading from the surrounding characters. It is not always right. Characters with several readings, short grammar words, names and rare characters can come out wrong, so check anything important in a dictionary.
Is the converter free, and is my text uploaded?
The converter is free and needs no account. The conversion runs in your browser, so the text you paste stays on your device and is not sent to a server.
How do I get pinyin for Chinese text in a photo, on a sign or in a screenshot?
A converter needs text you can paste. For a sign, a menu, a photo or a screenshot, HanCam for iPhone and iPad reads the characters with the camera or from an imported image and shows the hanzi, the pinyin with tone marks and the English translation.