Spelling rules

A few rules change how finals are written. They spell the same sounds; learning them stops you from reading yu as "yoo" or xue as "shoo-eh".

y and w

A syllable never starts with i, u or ü in writing. When there is no initial:

• i becomes y: ia → ya, ie → ye, iao → yao, iu → you, ian → yan, iang → yang, iong → yong. Where i is the whole vowel, yi is written: i → yi, in → yin, ing → ying.
• u becomes w: ua → wa, uo → wo, uai → wai, ui → wei, uan → wan, un → wen, uang → wang, ueng → weng. Alone, u is written wu.
• ü becomes yu: ü → yu, üe → yue, üan → yuan, ün → yun.

The dots on ü

After j, q, x and y, ü is written without its dots, since u never follows those letters: 去 qù is "chü", 学 xué is "shüeh". After n and l the dots stay, because nu and lu are syllables too: 女 nǚ "woman" against 怒 nù "anger", 绿 lǜ "green" against 路 lù "road". Typing on a computer, ü is entered as v.

Shortened finals

After an initial, three finals drop their middle vowel in writing, though it is still faintly heard:

The buzzed i

After z, c, s, zh, ch, sh and r, the letter i is not "ee". It writes a buzz that carries on the consonant's sound: 四 sì, 是 shì, 日 rì. Say the consonant and let your voice run on without moving your tongue.

The apostrophe

An apostrophe marks where a syllable starting with a, o or e begins inside a word, where the letters could be read another way: 西安 Xī'ān (two syllables) against 先 xiān (one), 女儿 nǚ'ér "daughter".

Where the tone mark goes

The tone mark sits on a vowel. If the syllable has a or e, the mark goes there; in ou it goes on the o; otherwise on the last vowel. So hǎo, xiè, gǒu, but liù and guì. On i the mark replaces the dot: nǐ.