Chinese from the start
Learn to read pinyin, hear every letter, and read short guides to how Chinese works.
Spelling rules
A few rules change how finals are written, not how they sound. A syllable never starts with i, u or ü in writing: they become y and w. ü loses its dots after j, q, x and y. And after z, c, s, zh, ch, sh and r, the letter i is not ee but a buzz.
Read the guide: Spelling rulesi at the start: y
10 lettersWith no initial, i becomes y, or yi where i is the whole vowel: ia is ya, i is yi, in is yin.
u at the start: w
9 lettersWith no initial, u becomes w, or wu where u is the whole vowel: ua is wa, ui is wei, un is wen.
ü: yu, and u after j, q, x
9 lettersWith no initial, ü becomes yu. After j, q and x it is written u, since u can't follow them. After n and l the dots stay, to tell nü from nu.
The buzzed i
7 lettersAfter z, c, s, zh, ch, sh and r, i is not ee. It writes a buzz that carries on the consonant: hold your tongue where the consonant put it and keep your voice going.