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HanCam · Free pinyin tool
Simplified vs Traditional Chinese: converter and differences
Paste Chinese text and switch it between Simplified and Traditional characters. Words are converted as whole phrases, not one character at a time. Below the converter: how the two scripts differ and what a converter cannot know.
Result
Paste or type Chinese text. The converted text appears here as you type.
Words are matched as phrases, so 头发 becomes 頭髮 and 发现 becomes 發現. Some characters depend on a meaning that no word list can see: check names and rare words.
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Simplified and Traditional Chinese: the difference
Chinese is written with two sets of characters. Simplified characters are the standard in mainland China, Singapore and Malaysia. Traditional characters are the standard in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau. The spoken language is the same either way: a Mandarin sentence is read aloud the same in both scripts, and its pinyin is the same.
Simplified characters were introduced in mainland China in the 1950s and 1960s. Many characters got fewer strokes: 門 became 门, 學 became 学, 國 became 国. Many others were not changed at all, which is why a reader of one script can often make out the other.
One Simplified character, several Traditional ones
The hard part for a converter is that simplification sometimes merged several Traditional characters into one. Simplified 发 stands for both 發 (to send out) and 髮 (hair). 后 stands for 後 (after) and 后 (empress). 干 stands for 乾 (dry), 幹 (to do) and 干 (to concern).
| Simplified | Traditional | In words |
|---|---|---|
| 发 | 發髮 | 发现→發現头发→頭髮 |
| 后 | 後后 | 以后→以後皇后→皇后 |
| 干 | 乾幹干 | 干净→乾淨能干→能幹相干→相干 |
| 里 | 裡里 | 这里→這裡公里→公里 |
| 面 | 麵面 | 面条→麵條见面→見面 |
| 只 | 隻只 | 一只猫→一隻貓只要→只要 |
Going to Simplified is nearly mechanical. Going to Traditional needs the word: 头发 is 頭髮, but 发现 is 發現. This converter looks up whole phrases first, about 49,000 of them, and falls back to single characters only where no phrase matches.
Taiwan and Hong Kong forms
Traditional characters differ a little by region. Taiwan writes 裡, 著 and 麵 where Hong Kong writes 裏, 着 and 麪. Choose the place your reader is in. The choice only matters when you convert to Traditional: going to Simplified, the converter accepts both.
What the converter does not do
It replaces characters with the help of a word list. It does not understand the text. These are the known gaps:
- It does not change vocabulary. Mainland 软件 (software) becomes 軟件, although Taiwan says 軟體, and 鼠标 (computer mouse) becomes 鼠標, not 滑鼠. For text that should read as local, ask a native reader to go over the words.
- Family names follow the common word. As family names 范, 于 and 余 are written the same in Traditional, but the converter turns them into 範, 於 and 餘. Check names before you print them.
- A word that is not in the list is converted one character at a time. 方便面 (instant noodles) stays 方便面, where Traditional writes 方便麵.
- The Taiwan setting writes the formal 臺, as in 臺灣 and 電視臺. Everyday writing in Taiwan often uses 台. The Hong Kong setting writes 台.
- Do not convert Traditional text to Traditional again. A character that also exists as a Simplified one can change: 皇后 is protected by the word list, a single 后 becomes 後.
The conversion tables are those of the open-source project OpenCC, used under the Apache License 2.0. OpenCC · Licence text
Simplified or Traditional Chinese you cannot copy
This converter needs text that you can paste, and it turns one script into the other. HanCam does something else. For Chinese on a sign, a menu or a page of a book, it reads the characters with the camera of your iPhone or iPad and shows them with pinyin and tone marks, and the meaning. It reads Simplified and Traditional characters and does not convert between them. The meaning is in your phone's language where Apple's on-device translation offers it, and in English otherwise.
Read Chinese you cannot copy: signs, menus, books and screenshots.
Free: reading is unlimited, copying 10 times a day. One-time Premium purchase, no subscription. iPhone and iPad, iOS 18 or later.
Questions and answers
What is the difference between Simplified and Traditional Chinese?
They are two ways of writing the same language. Simplified characters, the standard in mainland China, Singapore and Malaysia, often have fewer strokes (门, 学, 国). Traditional characters, the standard in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau, keep the older forms (門, 學, 國). Many characters are the same in both.
Why do some converters get 头发 or 以后 wrong?
A converter that swaps one character at a time has to guess. Simplified 发 stands for two Traditional characters, 發 and 髮, and 后 for 後 and 后. This converter matches whole words first, so 头发 becomes 頭髮, 发现 becomes 發現, 以后 becomes 以後 and 皇后 stays 皇后.
Taiwan or Hong Kong: which Traditional characters should I choose?
The place your reader is in. The two write some common characters differently: 裡, 著 and 麵 in Taiwan, 裏, 着 and 麪 in Hong Kong. The rest of the text comes out the same.
Does the converter change words as well as characters?
No, characters only. Mainland 软件 becomes 軟件, not Taiwan's 軟體, and 鼠标 becomes 鼠標, not 滑鼠. For text that should read as local, ask a native reader to go over the vocabulary.
Is the pinyin different for Simplified and Traditional Chinese?
No. 头发 and 頭髮 are both tóufa. Pinyin writes the sound, and the sound does not depend on the script. The Chinese to pinyin converter on this site reads both.
Can I convert names with it?
With care. A family name can keep its own character where the everyday word changes: 范, 于 and 余 stay as they are in Traditional, but the converter writes 範, 於 and 餘. Check every name against the way the person writes it.