Tone mark rule 1:
There are rules to follow about where to put the diacritical marks.
First, the main vowel of a syllable always gets the tone mark but not the rest.
If there is a single vowel in the syllable, put it over the vowel.
e.g. da→dà
Tone mark rule 2:
Second, the main vowel can be identified according the following sequence: a-o-e-i-u-ü.
For instance, “a” is the main vowel of “ao,” “ai,” and ia;”
“e” is the main vowel of “ei;”
“o” is the main vowel of “ou” and “uo.”
- tiao – tiào
- tuo – tuō
- bei – bèi
When two vowels, i and u, are together, you put it over the second vowel. For example,
- diu – diū
- dui – duì
Tone mark rule 3:
Third, if the diacritical mark is over an i, omit the dot. For example,
- bi – bǐ
- shui – shuì
Self-check:
b, p, m, f + uo → bo, po, mo, fo
When the Final “uo” combines with the labial initials b, p, m, f, the “u” drops out. For example,
- buo ➬ bo
- puo ➬ po
- muo ➬ mo
- fuo ➬ fo
But the “u” stays when any other initial is used. For example:
- duō – much or many (adj.)
- cuò -wrong (adj.)
When the Final “uo” combines with the labial initials b, p, m, f, the “u” drops out. For example,
Bōlán (n. Poland)
Xīnjiāpō (n. Singapore)
Mómǎ (n. The Museum of Modern Art)
Hāfó (n. Harvard) :
Self-check:
j, q, x + ü → ju, qu, xu
When the ü final combines with the palatal initials j, q, or x, the umlaut drops out. This is because only the ü final can go with j, q, or x, but not the “u” final. Therefore, anytime a “u”comes after j, q, or x, one knows that it has to be the “ü”final even though the umlaut is not there. For example,
jùzi (n. sentence):
qù (v. to go):
T-xù (n. T-shirt):
Self-check:
i → y
When the finals beginning with “i” (i.e., “ia,” “iao,” “ian,” “iang,” “iong”) occur without an initial, and there are two vowels in the final, then “i” changes to “y.” For example, ia ➱ ya.
Yēsū (n. Jesus)
Xībānyá (n. Spain)
Yóutā (n. Utah)
i, in, ing → yi, yin, ying
If “i” is the only vowel in the final, then “y” is added before the “i.” For example,
Yìdàlì (n. Italy)
Miǎnyīn (n. Maine)
Yīnggélán (n. England)
Self-check:
uo, ua, uan, uen, uei → wo, wa, wan, wen, wei
When the finals beginning with “u” (i.e., “ua,” “uo,” “uai,” “ui”) occur without an initial and there is more than one vowel in the final, then “u” changes to “w.” For example,
wǒ (pron. I, me)
Táiwān (n. Taiwan)
Huáwéi (n. Huawei)
Self-check:
ü, üe, ün, üan → yu, yue, yun, yuan
when the finals beginning with “ü” (i.e., “ü”) occur without an initial, the umlaut (¨) drops out, and a “y” is added in front of “u”. For example,
yǔ (n. rain)
yú (n. fish)
Niǔyuē (n. New York)
yún (n. cloud)
yuǎn (adj. far)
Self-check:
Proper nouns:
The names of people, places, companies, brands, etc. should be capitalized in pinyin. When the name has multiple words in it, the first letter of each word should be capitalized.
Běijīng (n. Beijing)
Shànghǎi (n. Shanghai)
Xiānggǎng (n. Hong Kong)
Chinese names:
The surname is written with the first letter capitalized, followed by lowercase letters.
If the given name has only one syllable, it is also written with the first letter capitalized, followed by lowercase letters.
Please note that in Chinese names, the surname comes first, followed by the given name. This order should also be followed when reading. For example,
Xí Jìnpíng (n. Xi Jinping, the President of China)
Chéng Lóng (n. Jackie Chan, A Chinese celebrity)
Boundary marker:
Make Syllable Boundaries Clear with an apostrophe.
If the second syllable in a word has no initial, and the previous one ends with a vowel, then an apostrophe is used.
The purpose of doing this is to prevent the two consecutive syllables from merging into a single syllable. For example,
Xī’ān (Xi’an, one of the Chinese Four Great Ancient Capitals)