Bopomofo (Zhuyin) chart and converter

All 37 Zhuyin symbols — ㄅ ㄆ ㄇ ㄈ — with the pinyin each one stands for, plus a converter that goes both ways across every one of the 410 syllables in Mandarin. Runs in your browser; nothing is submitted and nothing is stored.

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Zhuyin ↔ Pinyin converter

Pinyin → Zhuyin

Type pinyin and get Zhuyin, or paste Zhuyin and get pinyin back — the direction switches itself based on what is in the box. Tone marks, tone numbers (ni3) and v for ü are all understood, and syllables run together (nihao) are separated for you.

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This converter works on sounds, not characters. To get the reading of Chinese characters first, use the Pinyin Annotator or the Chinese → Pinyin translator, then paste the pinyin back in here.
Left as-is, because it is not part of a Mandarin syllable:

The 37 Zhuyin symbols

Tap any symbol to add it to the converter above. A Mandarin syllable is written initial + medial + rhyme, in that order, and every symbol belongs to exactly one of those three slots — which is the structural difference from pinyin, where the letter i is a medial in xian, a rhyme in xi and silent filler in zhi.

Initials 聲母 — 21 consonants

Medials 介音 — 3 glides

Rhymes 韻母 — 13 endings

21 + 3 + 13 = 37 symbols. The pronunciation hints in the table below are this site's own pinyin descriptions, read straight from the pinyin syllable chart — the two pages cannot disagree, because there is only one set of them.

Symbol-by-symbol reference

Symbol Pinyin Sounds like Example Watch out for
ㄅ b Like 'b' in 'boy' ba → ㄅㄚ
ㄆ p Like 'p' in 'pay' (aspirated) pa → ㄆㄚ
ㄇ m Like 'm' in 'may' ma → ㄇㄚ
ㄈ f Like 'f' in 'fun' fa → ㄈㄚ
ㄉ d Like 'd' in 'day' da → ㄉㄚ
ㄊ t Like 't' in 'top' (aspirated) ta → ㄊㄚ
ㄋ n Like 'n' in 'nay' na → ㄋㄚ
ㄌ l Like 'l' in 'lay' la → ㄌㄚ
ㄍ g Like 'g' in 'go' ga → ㄍㄚ
ㄎ k Like 'k' in 'key' (aspirated) ka → ㄎㄚ
ㄏ h Like 'h' in 'hay' ha → ㄏㄚ
ㄐ j Like 'j' in 'jeep' (softer) ji → ㄐㄧ
ㄑ q Like 'ch' in 'cheese' (aspirated) qi → ㄑㄧ
ㄒ x Like 'sh' in 'she' (softer) xi → ㄒㄧ
ㄓ zh Like 'j' in 'judge' (retroflex) zhi → ㄓ Written zhi when it is the whole syllable — that i is silent, not a vowel.
ㄔ ch Like 'ch' in 'church' (retroflex, aspirated) chi → ㄔ Written chi when it stands alone.
ㄕ sh Like 'sh' in 'ship' (retroflex) shi → ㄕ Written shi when it stands alone.
ㄖ r Like 'r' in 'ray' (with tongue curled) ri → ㄖ Written ri when it stands alone.
ㄗ z Like 'ds' in 'beds' zi → ㄗ Written zi when it stands alone.
ㄘ c Like 'ts' in 'cats' (aspirated) ci → ㄘ Written ci when it stands alone.
ㄙ s Like 's' in 'say' si → ㄙ Written si when it stands alone.
ㄧ i Like 'ee' in 'see' yi → ㄧ Written y at the start of a syllable: ya, ye, you are all ㄧ + a rhyme.
ㄨ u Like 'oo' in 'too' wu → ㄨ Written w at the start of a syllable: wa, wo, wei are all ㄨ + a rhyme.
ㄩ ü Like German 'ü' (round lips, say 'ee') yu → ㄩ Pinyin ü, but written plain u after j, q, x and y — ju is ㄐㄩ, not ㄐㄨ.
ㄚ a Like 'a' in 'father' a → ㄚ
ㄛ o Like 'o' in 'more' o → ㄛ The o of bo, po, mo, fo, where pinyin drops the u that Zhuyin does not write either.
ㄜ e Like 'u' in 'duh' e → ㄜ
ㄝ ê ye → ㄧㄝ The e of ie and üe only. The e of de and hen is ㄜ.
ㄞ ai Like 'eye' ai → ㄞ
ㄟ ei Like 'ay' in 'day' ei → ㄟ Hidden in pinyin ui: gui is ㄍㄨㄟ, the e spelled out.
ㄠ ao Like 'ow' in 'how' ao → ㄠ
ㄡ ou Like 'o' in 'go' ou → ㄡ Hidden in pinyin iu: liu is ㄌㄧㄡ, the o spelled out.
ㄢ an Like 'an' in 'fan' an → ㄢ
ㄣ en Like 'un' in 'taken' en → ㄣ Hidden in pinyin un: dun is ㄉㄨㄣ. Also the n of in and ün.
ㄤ ang Like 'ong' in 'song' (more open) ang → ㄤ
ㄥ eng Like 'ung' in 'lung' eng → ㄥ The ng of eng and ing, and of ong (ㄨㄥ) and iong (ㄩㄥ).
ㄦ er Like 'er' in 'her' (American) er → ㄦ

Tones in Zhuyin

Zhuyin uses the same marks as pinyin for the second, third and fourth tones — they are written after the syllable rather than over a vowel. Only two things differ, and both catch pinyin readers out.

Tone Sound Pinyin Zhuyin
First Tone 阴平 High and level mā ㄇㄚ
Second Tone 阳平 Rising má ㄇㄚˊ
Third Tone 上声 Falling then rising mǎ ㄇㄚˇ
Fourth Tone 去声 Sharp falling mà ㄇㄚˋ
Neutral Tone 轻声 Light and short ma ˙ㄇㄚ
  • The first tone takes no mark at all. A bare ㄇㄚ is mā, not ma. Pinyin writes the macron; Zhuyin treats the high level tone as the default and marks the other three.
  • The neutral tone goes in front. ˙ㄉㄜ is de — the dot precedes the syllable, where every other mark follows it.

Bopomofo vs Pinyin

They write the same sounds, so neither is more accurate than the other. The real difference is that pinyin's spelling hides structure in order to stay short and typeable, and Zhuyin does not hide any of it. Every row below is a place where the pinyin looks like one thing and the syllable is another.

In pinyin In Zhuyin What is going on
ju, qu, xu, yu ㄐㄩ ㄑㄩ ㄒㄩ ㄩ That u is really ü. Pinyin drops the two dots because ㄐㄨ is not a syllable, so there is nothing to confuse it with. Zhuyin writes ㄩ and never has to explain the rule.
zhi, chi, shi, ri, zi, ci, si ㄓ ㄔ ㄕ ㄖ ㄗ ㄘ ㄙ The i is not a vowel and is not the i of ni — it is a placeholder, because pinyin needs a vowel in every syllable. Zhuyin writes the consonant alone.
liu, gui, dun ㄌㄧㄡ ㄍㄨㄟ ㄉㄨㄣ Contractions. The full finals are iou, uei and uen, and the missing vowel is still pronounced. Zhuyin spells all three out, which is why the tone mark lands where you expect.
ya, wo, yi, wu ㄧㄚ ㄨㄛ ㄧ ㄨ There is no y or w consonant in Mandarin. They are the medials i and u, respelled because pinyin will not start a syllable with a bare vowel letter.
ie vs de ㄧㄝ vs ㄉㄜ Two different vowels sharing one letter. The e of xie is ㄝ; the e of de and hen is ㄜ.
dong vs yong ㄉㄨㄥ vs ㄩㄥ Written with the same ong, but they are not the same final: one is u + eng, the other is ü + eng. Zhuyin makes the difference visible.
First tone mā ㄇㄚ Zhuyin leaves the first tone unmarked and marks the other four. Pinyin marks four and leaves the neutral tone bare — the exact opposite convention.

Practical upshot: if you already read pinyin, learning Zhuyin is mostly learning 37 shapes — the sound system underneath is one you know. Most learners outside Taiwan never need it. It is worth the afternoon if you are using Taiwanese textbooks or children's books, where the Zhuyin runs alongside the characters, or if you want to type on a Taiwanese keyboard.

All 410 syllables

Every syllable Mandarin has, in both scripts. Tap one to load it into the converter. This is the same inventory as the pinyin syllable chart, written the other way.

No syllable matches that. Mandarin has 410 of them, and combinations that look plausible — ki, tei, fai — simply do not occur.

Questions people ask

What does "Bopomofo" mean?

Nothing — it is the first four symbols read aloud: ㄅ ㄆ ㄇ ㄈ, bo po mo fo, the same way the alphabet is named after A B C. The formal name is Zhuyin Fuhao (注音符號), "phonetic notation symbols".

Do I need to learn it?

Only if Taiwan is your target. Textbooks, children's books and dictionaries published there print Zhuyin beside the characters, and the standard Taiwanese keyboard layout is Zhuyin rather than pinyin. For mainland Mandarin, pinyin is all you need — see how Chinese is typed for both.

Is Zhuyin used for traditional characters only?

In practice yes, because it is Taiwan that uses it, and Taiwan writes traditional characters. But the two are independent: Zhuyin writes sounds, and the sounds are the same in both scripts. If you have simplified text, the Simplified ↔ Traditional converter will give you the traditional form.

Can I convert Chinese characters directly?

Not on this page — this one works on sounds. Get the reading first with the Pinyin Annotator, which prints pinyin above each character, then paste that pinyin into the converter above.

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Where to go next

Interactive Pinyin Chart Pinyin Tone Trainer Pinyin Pronunciation Reference Pinyin Keyboard Pinyin Tone Converter Pinyin Learning Center