Search ThePureLanguage
One box for the whole site: 558 pages, 4,997 dictionary words and 468 travel phrases.
Type in English, in pinyin (tone marks optional) or in Chinese. The matching runs in your browser: no search is ever run on a server.
Browse by section
Nothing typed yet? Pick a section and every page in it is listed, sorted by name.
The search runs in your browser
Most site searches are a request to a server, which means every query anyone types is something a log file could hold. This one is not. The page downloads two files once — the list of pages, and the dictionary — and does the matching itself, so no search is ever run on a server: there is nothing to rate-limit, nothing to queue and no record of a query anywhere.
One honest caveat, because it is visible in your address bar: opening or sharing a
result set puts the words in the URL, the way /search/你好 does. That is
what makes a search linkable. This site's own analytics replace that part of the
address with a placeholder before recording anything, so the page is counted and what
you searched for is not.
It is the same rule the handwriting lookup follows for a drawing and the tone mirror follows for a voice, and the same reason the stroke-order animations are served from this site rather than from someone else's CDN. See the privacy policy for what this site does and does not collect.
Questions about searching this site
What can I search for here?
All 558 pages of the site — every translator, tool, quiz, game, article, grammar point, radical, story, travel situation and word list — plus all 4,997 words in the HSK 1–6 dictionary and 468 travel phrases. A word result opens its dictionary entry; a phrase result opens the situation page it was written for.
Can I search in Chinese or in pinyin?
Yes, in either, and in English. Pinyin is matched with or without tone marks, so "nǐ hǎo", "ni hao" and "nihao" all find 你好. Typing Chinese characters searches the dictionary and every page whose title or key words contain them.
Is my search run on a server?
No. The matching happens inside your browser against two files it downloads once, so no query is ever run against a server, queued, rate-limited or stored. The one thing that does travel is the web address itself: opening or sharing a result set puts the words in the URL, which is what makes a search linkable — and this site's analytics replace that part of the address with a placeholder before recording anything. See the privacy policy for what this site does and does not collect.
Why do the dictionary results take a moment to appear?
The page list arrives first because it is small, and the dictionary — nearly 5,000 words — arrives a moment later. Results fill in as it lands; you do not have to search again.
Is it free?
Yes. There is no account on this site, no sign-up and no limit on searches. It is supported by ads.
Looking for a character you cannot type? Draw it instead. Looking for a whole sentence rather than a word? The translator takes up to 800 characters.